For the past 9 months we have been working on a large remodeling project for the River of Life Church in Hastings, Minnesota. We are drawing to a close on our work. I was on the site today to look things over. Craig Vold, a Senior Project Manager with Northfield Construction Company has done a superb job managing a difficult project. Craig has been supported by his cousin, Field Superintendent Jim Vold.

These two talented individuals, assisted by just about every other Northfield Construction Company employee at different times, have taken this 1920's building and fully modernized it. The builiding now contains an elevator, new handicapped accessible toilets, bright classrooms, new mechanical and electrical systems, all new windows and roofing.....a 21st Century building in a older skin!

Our work included constructing two cupolas on the roof. One cupola has windows in the sidewalls and is centered over a large light well in the sanctuary.

This allows light to flood into the large space. The other cupola is similar in architectural details, but does not have windows and is used for capping the elevator shaft.

The new windows should serve the congregation for many years. They are clad Andersen windows. We installed matching metal trims extending between the edge of the window and the existing brick masonry. This detail not only looks good, but it requires no periodic painting and is a very tight weather seal.

The building had some existing features that have been preserved. The upper youth room includes an arch top window.

In the same room the exising interior decorative roof trusses were left intact. We filled in some walls and built around the trusses, creating some interesting features. The youth room is the second level where the sanctuary used to be located.

Our work involved creating a new sanctuary where offices and classrooms had been located. This is a wonderful open space ready to be carpeted and filled with seating. It has wonderful windows and also contains new electronic media equipment.

One of the challenges of a total remodeling and renovation project like this is fitting all the new mechanical equipment into the building. We have a very full main mechanical room as well as some remote fan rooms. The building is fully air conditioned now which will be greatly appreciated on warm, muggy Minnesota days.

The lower level classrooms are also bright and cheery. We added proper exiting for this area and it should work well for Christian education, daycare and other purposes.

I'll try to get some photographs of the project when it is fully completed with floor finishes and all trims, lights and seating in place. This congregation can be proud of accomplishing this major remodeling project. All of us at Northfield Construction Company have enjoyed working with them on this project, and working some owner supplied labor into the work.

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:58 AM | Link

 
I mentioned in an earlier entry that we have been working on the Cannon Falls City Hall remodeling project in Cannon Falls. The building was the office for Minnesota Malting Company for many years and was constructed in the early 1970's. The City of Cannon Falls purchased the office building some time ago and we are converting it to city offices and police headquarters.

Like many remodeling projects, you don't always know what you will run into when you open up areas. We have had some surprises as we move forward on the project. This morning I was on site and examined some structural connections that probably need some upgrading. The joists are supported by hangers to a beam, but the workers didn't install the proper number of fasteners when the building was originally constructed. Some of the nails were simply bent over rather than fully seated.

One of the things that makes commercial projects like this move along smoothly is good architectural services. Jon Neubauer and Brian Burmester from TSP Architects are doing a fine job overseeing the work. Today they were up on ladders inspecting things and gathering information to provide answers and instructions to us. I really appreciate good efforts from architects and engineers----especially on remodeling work. Having architects properly do their job builds owner confidence that we are doing our job properly.

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:31 AM | Link

 
Last Friday I spent the entire day at a contractor licensing class.....a long day of sitting. The class was held in Northfield at the American Legion which made it very easy for me to attend the class. In other years I have driven to Minneapolis to take the required 7.5 hours of required courses.

This year John Brookins, the Building Official in Northfield, talked with Steve Schmidt and me about the city hosting a class. We encouraged John to try the idea, feeling that many area builders would come to Northfield to obtain their classtime credits. We were right, with nearly 80 people registering for the class. Two instructors from the State of Minnesota conducted the class. It was a thorough review of requirements for the new International Residentail Code that we are all dealing with.

I was a proponent of contractor licensing in Minnesota for many years before licensing was required. I firmly believe it brings a higher degree of professionalism to the industry and gives consumers an extra level of protection. Every year when I attend a builder's licensing class I learn new things and come away pleased that I spent the day "in school" learning about important construction issues. After some initial grumbling about licenising I believe all builders now appreciate the effort that goes into licensing.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:12 AM | Link

 
We are working at finishing up a room addition on Third Street in Northfield. The owners of this house have been very good clients---we have completed several remodeling projects for them.

I very much appreciate how they care about matching the historical character of their home. There are plenty of folks that own older homes that cover them in various synthetic siding materials so that they no longer have the crisp, clean lines of an historic home. It takes some care to plan an addition or remodeling that suits the home and suits the owners needs.

In this instance we have used accurate siding, wood trimmed Marvin windows, matching trims, doors, etc. The one concession we made was not using real stone for the foundation---we used a textured concrete block. However, as you look at older homes you can see the foundations have changed quite a bit over the years, from stacked stones, to shaped mortared stone, to 'pillow blocks', to standard concrete block, etc. The foundations seem to be the one thing that changed the most over the past 125 years of home construction.

This room additon and remodel should provide years of excellent service to the owner. It looks great and blends in with this histoical home.

Posted by Ray Cox at 3:02 PM | Link

 
Laura Baker Services Gala
Saturday evening Ellen and I attended the Laura Baker Services 2004 Gala event and fundraiser. This was a fun event for a wonderful organization. Laura Baker Services (LBS) is an Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) located in Northfield. A 107 year old organization, they provide excellent residential and educational services to their residents.

The evening started off with a social hour at the Laura Baker Center on the campus. We were able to visit with many Northfield supporters of LBS. While it was starting to turn dark as we gathered, there was just enough light for people to view the new 6 resident cottage across the lawn. The cottage was finished this spring and was built by my construction company.

After the social hour we moved downtown to the Grand Entertainment Center. The Grand served us an excellent dinner. There was more visiting, meeting several people from out of town. This was the time for people to bid on a wide variety of silent auction items. I donated a birdhouse to LBS for the auction and I was impressed to see that it sold for $250.

Long time KYMN radio owner and broadcaster Wayne Eddy handled the live auction.

Wayne is a trustee for LBS. No one does the emcee and auction duties better than Wayne. He knows how to work the crowd. Two of the major auction items were dinners for six with each of the college presidents....St. Olaf President Chris Thomforde and Carleton President Rob Oden.
Northfield, and the State of Minnesota, is fortunate to have the LBS facility here. They have a tremendous, caring staff that works with each resident to see that they enjoy life to the higest degree. LBS is supported by a hardworking Board of Trustees made up of local and out of town people. Reading through the names of the businesses and individuals that donated to the 2004 LBS Gala point out how important community support is for such organizations. I'm glad that my employees and I can provide support to this great organization.

Posted by Ray Cox at 2:55 PM | Link