Stuck in the mud

VJS overcomes sloppy site for new school

By Dustin Block

If an occasional mud bath really is good for the skin, then there's a group of VJS Construction Services workers walking around feeling as soft as a baby's bottom.

The joke during the construction of Ronald Reagan Elementary School for New Berlin Public Schools was that the site was a mud capital. A late start on the $17.3 million elementary school, paired with a freeze in December 2005 and then rain in January, turned the grounds of the future school into a swampy mess for construction manager VJS.

Plans for a service drive around the perimeter of the 145,000 square-foot school were scrapped, and members of VJS' field team were forced to work in mud up to their thighs to build the exterior of the building.

	Project Name: Ronald Reagan Elementary School - New Berlin Public School District Location: New Berlin Submitting Company: VJS Construction Services Inc., Pewaukee Construction Manager: VJS Construction Services Inc. Project Leaders: Troy Duke, VJS' superintendent; Bill Pennoyer, VJS' senior project manager; Jason Schneider, VJS' project manager Architect: Bray Associates Architects Inc., Sheboygan Engineers: Ambrose Engineering Inc., Cedarburg, structural engineer; Ruekert/Mielke, Waukesha, civil engineer Owner: New Berlin Public Schools Project Cost: $17.3 million Project Size: 145,000 square feet Start Date: December 2005 Completion Date: December 2006

"The late start threw us for a loop," said Bill Pennoyer, VJS' senior project manager. "The mason's equipment was buried in 3 to 4 feet of mud."

The project's late start had little to do with VJS' planning. The project team had met with city and school leaders for months in 2005 to set up a September or, at the latest, October start date. That would have given VJS plenty of time to complete the building for the next school year.

Then the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources got involved. A small stream on the construction site that at times runs dry was declared navigable, and a review process was started. Some citizens waited until the last possible moment to request a public hearing on the stream, Pennoyer said, and the 14-month project's start date was pushed back to December.

Once the project got rolling, VJS used steel interior-bearing walls to build through the winter and cut two and a half months off the project's initial timetable. It also saved the School District $1 million.

Students and teachers moved into the building in December 2006. The two-story school houses five classroom for each grade, accommodates 750 students and has a two-station gymnasium. It includes a large cafeteria/common area, windows in every room and athletic fields for every sport.

Pennoyer said the School District is happy with the finished project, but that wasn't the case for everyone when the plans were first proposed. The district merged two schools into one to find the money for the project, and some people were upset over losing their school.

"You had to fight how difficult it is to close a school," Pennoyer said.