Posted September 8, 2008; 5:00pm
What started as a pile of dirt has become quite a scene on the Kilpatrick Turnpike just south of the Northwest Expressway. The walls are up, which has opened the floodgates for other aspects of our new building to be put in motion. It's finally the day where this big metal structure starts to get a lot of character. But that's only the beginning of a very busy stretch for the new KSBI. The building is hitting new heights, literally.
Foreman Lance Pellegrini said, "We finished the roof, we got in the curbs for the air conditioning, we sheeted some more of this wall."
And closing the roof has been a major goal
Superintendent Glenn Cunningham said, "You have to be dried in before you can start the electrical work and stuff, everything has to be protected so you want to get it dry as fast as you can."
Some construction crews prep for more work on-site, and more men on-hand.
"We're getting the interior cleaned out we have to start setting the walls out here. The sprinkler guys are coming in, the electricians will be in in a few days, so it's going to really get crowded quick," Pellegrini explained.
About 50,000 bricks will line the outside of the facility.
"Instead of just that silver wall, you're going to see a nice brick wall it's pretty tall so it will take them a while to get all the way up there, it's 22 feet," Pellegrini described.
Which shows visible signs of improvement, inside and out.
"Here in the next week you're going to see a lot of activity, we'll have people inside and outside. We'll have scaffold all around the building because it's brick and the sheeting that's going on the top. On the inside there will be plumbers, framers, there will be a lot of activity in here," Pellegrini concluded.
The final pieces of the walls will go up tomorrow. The reason they've waited to put this up is because it will use colored paneling. It's more of a finished, tan product that will really stand out and look nice for people traveling by. Tomorrow, crews will also begin work on a new entry way. You can watch all the progress live on our StateCam, which is up and running at the site.
