Bachmann solves the 202 State Street puzzle

The 202 State Street project in Madison is challenging the Bachmann Construction team. Photos courtesy of Bachmann Construction Co. Inc.

The architects drew up a rendering and presented it to the city.

The city studied the design and eventually gave it the stamp of approval. Now, it’s up to Bachmann Construction Co. Inc., Madison, to turn that rendering into reality.

Up to that point, it’s all pretty standard stuff. But the 202 State Street project in Madison isn’t exactly a standard project.

The job consists of a vertical expansion to add a fourth floor to the building, reconstruction of the building’s elevator shaft and renovation work in the building’s circulation areas. The design also calls for a demolition and rebuild of the building’s 1960s façade.

And that’s where standard operating procedure goes out the window. When Bachmann signed on for the project in January, the stone for the new façade was stockpiled in a field outside of Madison. That stone was all that remained of a 1922 building demolished to make room for the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.

“It was an opportunity for the Overture, the city of Madison and the new owner of this building to make use of a historically significant façade,” said Al Bach-mann, chief operating officer of Bachmann. “Very early on in the project, my two project managers and the stonemason went out to a field filled with pallets of old stone. They had been there for five years.

“We named the area the Field of Dreams. At times, it’s clearly been a nightmare.”

Bachmann Construction’s Scott Blum installs steel studs at 202 State Street in Madison.

The nightmare goes back to that original rendering that Architectural Network Inc. handed over to the city. There’s nothing wrong with the rendering, but Bachmann said it’s not easy using that old stone to replicate the design.

“We have to make it look like that,” he said. “You really can’t deviate much. That’s the challenge.

“It’s a big jigsaw puzzle with various sizes and shapes and thicknesses fitting in the form.”

But as the project enters November, the jigsaw puzzle is starting to take shape. Bachmann said the roof for the vertical expansion should go on at the end of October, and the façade should be topped off by the middle of November.

Depending on lease negotiations, the first floor of the 20,000-square-foot building will house an Associated Bank while the rest of the building will be available for office tenants.

“It’s a big project,” Bachmann said. “It’s a challenging project. The process had lots of hurdles, and we asked ourselves a few times why we got involved in this.

“But, at the end of the day, everybody is going to be really proud.”

Chris Thompson

Project fact

The Bachmann Construction team used about 500 tons of mostly Indiana limestone to create the 202 State Street façade.

Project Essentials

Project Name: 202 State Street
Location: Madison
Owner: Gus Paras, Madison
General Contractor: Bachmann Construction Co. Inc., Madison
Architect: Architectural Network Inc., Madison
Estimated Project Cost: $3 million
Start Date: May 2006
Scheduled Completion: January 2007