Concordia University, Nebraska

Construction updates and photos

November 2008

With winter on the way, the construction goal for the arena section of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center has been to get all the windows in, and closed. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:

Status update from Kiewit Building Group

Construction is moving forward. The main objective of the last six months has been to get the arena building enclosed to enable finish work to continue during wet and cold fall and winter weather. This has been accomplished, the finish activities that are currently being worked on include painting, ceramic tile, casework and door installation as well as basketball equipment. In the coming weeks the scoreboards, video screen and wood floor will be installed on the project. The bleachers are scheduled to arrive the first week of February, with most of the interior finished by that time.

The fieldhouse will be enclosed by the end of November, which will allow for the lights to be installed. The site has been partially complete, if the weather holds the remainder of the parking lot can be placed as well as some grading at the South side of the building. If the weather does not cooperate this will be done next spring.

Problems viewing the slideshow, above? View the set of photos on Flickr.

September 2008

From the view outside, the fieldhouse looks like where all the action is for the construction of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center. Take a step inside the arena section of the HHPAC, however, and you'll see that the work is picking up there as well. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:
Status update from Kiewit Building Group

The arena building is enclosed with the exception of a few exterior doors and windows that have been left out for fresh air ventilation until the mechanical systems are turned on around the 1st of October. With the building enclosed this allows for interior finishes to start, these items would include framing, drywall, as well as painting. The arena ceiling has had the sound proofing applied as well as been painted, with this done the lights and duct work can now be hung from the ceiling as well as the sound system installation can begin. The basketballs goals and scoreboards will be installed before the end of the year in this room, with the wood floor scheduled to arrive the first week in November. Once the wood floor has been acclimated and installed the bleachers will be installed, it appears this will occur sometime next February.

The project schedule required that the arena building be enclosed by winter to allow the interior finishing of the building to progress through the winter months, which will be the case. As for the site the concrete paving, curb and gutter as well as the asphalt parking is scheduled to occur this fall to insure the parking and paving are done for commencement next year, if these items do not get done this fall, we risk fighting another spring like the last one which would make it difficult to get this concrete and paving completed.

The field house building has the structure up, the roof is a little over half done with the precast panels on the exterior of the building erected. Once the roof is on, the wall girts and other miscellaneous steel that will be used to attach the Metal panel and Kalwall panel which will be installed above the precast panels up to the roof will be installed. The schedule for the field house will be to have the building enclosed and the concrete slab placed by mid December.

To summarize, the project has had several weather issues which slowed the progress down, but with the arena enclosed and the field house soon to be the final completion date will still be met.

Problems viewing the slideshow, above? View the set of photos on Flickr.

June 2008

The push is on to enclose the of the arena section of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center before. Construction has continued despite heavy spring rains. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:
Status update from Kiewit Building Group

Footings and foundations are 95% complete, with a break in the weather these could be complete in a week or two. Structural steel erection is moving forward, with the backfill of arena complete this allowed the upper level footings to be placed which when complete made it possible to complete the structural steel erection. There still remains some detailing and miscellaneous steel to erect, but the main structure of the arena is now in place. The structure for the field house is scheduled to begin erection by middle of June. With structural steel complete, the exterior skin of the building which is precast concrete panels have been placed on all foundation walls from the lower level. Metal stud framing as well as masonry are progressing in the building, the majority of interior walls in the arena have been built, as the exterior of the building is completed and the building is enclosed drywall and finishes will continue. Lower level concrete slabs have been on hold due to the continuous wet weather, as it starts drying out, different areas in the lower level will have the concrete floors placed. The overall project is moving forward, we are working through the rain and wet weather, the project schedule is to have the building fully enclosed by this coming fall to allow for the interior finishes to be completed through this coming winter. The site will be graded and have first course of the parking lot in place by the end of fall.

View of the arena from the P.E. Building parking lot; structural steel for the fieldhouse can be seen on the far left

View of the fieldhouse structural steel and the HHPAC main entrance

April 2008

Winter is finally loosening its grip on Nebraska and, for construction of the arena section of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center, this means a quickened pace for building progress. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:

Status status update from Kiewit Building Group

The lower level concrete footings and foundation walls are complete. With these activities done, Hartmann Construction is now able to backfill these foundation walls. This work will begin on the east side of the building, this work precedes footings on the upper level that need to be completed. Once these footings on the upper level are finished, the remainder of the arena’s structural steel can be erected as well as the start of the fieldhouse footings. The fieldhouse pre–engineered building will then be erected which is scheduled to arrive the first week in May. Activities currently occurring in the arena are the final detailing of the structural steel, mechanical & electrical rough in, masonry block walls and concrete slab on deck as well as concrete slab on grade pours. Activities soon to start are the exterior of the building’s precast concrete panels which are scheduled to start arriving on site in mid April, this as well as roofing the high roof over the actual basketball court. With the weather changing and turning warmer the progress of the building will begin to move much faster than it has through the winter, the project teams main objective for the next few months is to have the building closed in by September to allow for the mechanical systems to condition the building, which in turn will allow for construction and finishes to be completed through this next fall and winter.

Industrial strength smothing of the cement on the second floor of the HHPAC arena

January/February 2008

Despite weeks of cold weather, construction of the arena section of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center continues to move along. A milestone was reached Feb. 7 when the arena's first main joist (see image, below) was set. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:

First joist set on the HHPAC arena (courtesy photo)

Status update from Kiewit Building Group:

Grading: Hartmann Construction has completed the over excavation and recompaction of the building excavation. The next phase of grading will be backfilling the foundation walls. Concrete Footings and Foundation Walls: Stephens & Smith Construction is proceeding with the building footings and foundation walls. This process has been slowed by the cold weather and moisture, but they are working ahead of the structural steel. The lower level footings and foundation walls are scheduled to be complete by mid-February 2008. Structural Steel: Davis Erection is proceeding with structural steel erection, sequence one has been erected, with sequence two scheduled for delivery on January 14, 2008. Upon arrival this will be erected followed by the last sequence to arrive in mid February. The next scope of work to start will be the Mechanical and Electrical underground in the lower level of the building. This work will proceed the concrete slabs (floors). Precast concrete panels will be the next phase of the exterior of the building that will begin sometime early spring. Office: We are currently proceeding with submittals and samples of the finishes of the building. When selected these items will be ordered, with a project goal of having the building enclosed by next winter.

November 2007

The arena section of the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center is currently under construction. Read the progress report from Mike Koch of the Kiewit Building Group below:

Status update from Kiewit Building Group Inc.

Grading: Hartmann Construction is almost complete with the overexcavation and recompaction of the building pad. They have the southwest corner left as of 10/30/07. Once they have completed this we will be able to place concrete footings for the entire lower level of the building.

Concrete footings and foundation walls: Stephens & Smith Construction has completed the exterior footings on the southeast, east and north of the lower level. They are working on the east foundation wall placing a section about every other day. They will progress with exterior footings ahead of the wall construction, to include beginning the interior footings on the east half of the lower level to allow for structural steel erection to begin the last week of November.

Crane is scheduled to arrive the week of Thanksgiving, with structural steel to start the following week.

The concrete footings, foundation walls will continue through the winter as well as structural steel. Precast concrete would be the next phase which would follow structural steel erection.

Pouring the south wall:

Athletics pages are updated by Concordia's SID staff. Questions, comments:
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