Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
April 30, 2008
I went out with Building Inspector Jerry Koerkenmeier this afternoon to observe several construction projects. I do not get out to construction projects as much as I would like, but Jerry is always very gracious when I ask to tag along.
In particular, we visited the OTHS 9th Grade Center and three projects on Regency Park Drive: Regency Conference Center, Hilton Garden Inn, and the Balke Brown office building. All of the projects have been delayed due to the excessively wet weather, but they are working feverishly now that things have dried out.
The footings and foundations are being poured with concrete at the OTHS site. There is not much to see and that will continue for a while before we walls begin going up.
The Conference Center is coming along nicely, with drywall being laid on the internal walls. I had not seen the project since the walls went up, and it will be an impressive facility. The main conference room is quite large and will be ideal for small-to-medium sized conferences and meetings (and large wedding receptions). The building is scheduled to open in July and they will have to hustle to make that date. [You may recall the Conference Center is being built by the City with funding from the 1% Food and Beverage Tax.]
The Hilton Garden Inn is scheduled to open a short time after the Conference Center and it is also well on its way. The external walls are nearly complete and interior finishing continues. Since the building is made from wood, they have a lot of fire proofing do with fire-rated walls, partitions, and ducts. However, all of the hotel rooms have been framed and it looks to be a nice facility.
The Balke Brown building will offer quite a bit of office space. You do not realize how large the building is until you go inside and notice how much square footage will be available for Class A office space.
When visiting large commercial projects such as these, I am always amazed how so many construction workers are wandering around working on different things. It does not appear to be coordinated in any way, but Jerry advised that competent supervision is critical to a successful construction project. As the inspector of many hundreds of projects, Jerry said you can tell pretty quickly how well a project is going to go by the quality of the contractors’ superintendents on the site. Skilled workers are important as well, but success depends largely on how well they are managed and coordinated to complete the job. Sounds like sage advice for any project, be it construction or business or city government.
| 
