projects
LaPaz Garden Court Ground Breaking
Ground Breaking Announcement in the Pilot News, October 14, 2009
This is a bit of a misnomer since we literally broke ground last Monday, October 19th, but this Thursday, October 29th at 2:00 PM will be the Official Ground Breaking. We will break out the gold shovels and make sure everyone gets their picture taken. Reverend Liechty, President of Garden Court, Inc., will make a short speech. Often local government officials will attend. Congressman Donnelly has been invited as well since this project is funded by a Federal Grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The site is at 110 Cale Street. It is behind the Community Church of God which fronts on Hwy 31, just south of downtown LaPaz.
We are pushing hard on this one as we would like to see it under roof before the weather turns. That may be difficult with the late start, but the schedule calls for footings to be installed by the first of next week.
We are still working towards a Garden Court in Culver next year and there is talk of another in Plymouth as well. We look forward to these additional opportunities to assist Garden Court, Inc. in the community service they provide.
Lapaz Garden Court under Contract
Lapaz Garden Court Site Plan
Yesterday was a long day, but a good day. I went to Indianapolis for the closing on the Lapaz Garden Court. This project is a 14 unit assisted living facility in Lapaz, IN. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This will be the 6th Garden Court facility built by Easterday Construction Co., Inc. We’re pleased to have the opportunity to work with Garden Court, Inc. once again.
The closings are interesting as there is a flurry of HUD personnel in and out making sure that their different criteria are met. As always, paperwork is a big part of any government project. Fortunately the Garden Court team (Hughes & Associates, Real Estate Management and B.A. Martin Architects) has been through this multiple times in the past. I think the HUD personnel appreciate what they do and try to make things as painless as possible. This closing went smoothly and only took a little more than two hours, but in the past we have been phoning, faxing, emailing and otherwise chasing the necessary paperwork. It seems there is always one more thing required.
Thanks to the work of Garden Court and the HUD, Lapaz will have a new Garden Court facility ready to occupy by this time next year.
Safety Inspection
Last week we were working on a reroof project on the east shore of Lake Maxinkuckee for one of our good clients. Superintendent Bob Cooper noticed a car parked in front of the site, observing our work. He went out to check on it and found one of our competitors in the car with a Safety Consultant he had hired. Apparently our competitor had just had a visit from OSHA resulting in fines. He had hired the consultant to assist with the OSHA compliance on the current issues as well as to prevent future problems.
Upon some further discussion it was determined that the consultant was a former OSHA inspector. They were touring around looking at projects and discussing the safety violations they saw. Why were they spending so much time in front our our site? Because he was using us as an example of how to do it right! Our fall protection was in place. Our housekeeping was good. When he heard about our safety program, tool box talks, etc. he suggested that our competitor talk to us. “Sounds like this company does it right!”
We strive to do the right thing on our projects. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt. I cringe when I go by some job sites and see poor safety measures employed. I am pleased when our efforts are recognized by our clients and our peers. Earlier this year we achieved Silver Status in the ABC S.T.E.P. program. <certificate> We will strive to maintain that level or move up next year.
Lake Maxinkuckee Film Festival
This past Labor Day Weekend was the 2nd annual Lake Maxinkuckee Film Festival. I understand that this was the brain child of Dan Bickel, owner of the Lakeside Cinema and Edgewater Grille. Dan tells a little about his vision for the Lake Maxinkuckee Film Festival here. He got a group together to put this on as a charitable event. Carol & John Zeglis are involved, so our “Record” became a “Reel of Film” to welcome attendees. The plan was to roll out the red carpet and make the Film Reel an arch for attendees to walk through.
If you want to read more about the Film Festival, there were pictures in the Pilot News here and an article in the Culver Citizen here as well as the Pilot News front page picture below.
Carol Zeglis commissioned this display piece and we designed it to be durable and reusable. It is made of a solid expanded foam interior encased in plywood. It disassembles into two half circle pieces and it has two separate base pieces to stabilize it. When assembled, the individual pieces are pinned together. It has a recessed edge on one face for the installation of rope lighting. We provided a ground fault interrupt circuit cord for use with the lights. Unfortunately, the display is rather heavy and assembly requires several individuals working together. It has been a hit in its two recent incarnations despite setbacks with installations.
Picture from front page of Pilot News 9-11-09
