Project team prepares for Sun Prairie’s growth

Crews install masonry and structural steel for the main entry and community rooms of Sun Prairie’s new community building. Photo courtesy of Vogel Bros. Building Co.

It won’t be in the middle of nowhere for long.

And that certainty is the prime motivation for the construction team building the West Side Community Service Building in Sun Prairie. When it reaches completion in November, the 45,490-square-foot structure will house public community space, a fire station, a police station, an EMS facility and offices for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

Those are all essential civic services, but, for now, they’re about three-fourths of a mile from the nearest building.

“The site is on a fairly prominent roundabout in the community, and the goal was to have a strong building on each corner of that roundabout,” said Ryan Thacker, project architect with Plunkett Raysich Architects. “We’re the first building on the site, and it needs to be a landmark building that sets the tone for future buildings.”

The city settled on the remote location after developing a comprehensive plan that determined the best direction for growth, Thacker said. The plan pointed west, so the city decided to get ahead of the curve.

“It’s one of the most aggressively expanding communities in Wisconsin, and with that comes a lot of extra civic responsibilities,” Thacker said. “Our goal is to set the standard for what this site will look like in five, 10, 15 years.”

The construction team pours slab on grade for the new fire station’s vehicle apparatus bay. Photo courtesy of Vogel Bros. Building Co.

And Vogel Bros. Building Co. is working to make sure that standard is set high. The contractor signed on for the job in May 2005 and got started last November.

The plan called for winter construction, and Vogel went into the job prepared for the challenges.

“We do live in Wisconsin, and the industry now goes year-round,” said Tom O’Connor, Vogel’s project manager. “We knew what we were getting into. Once we got out of winter, it moved well, and we’re on schedule.”

As the project enters August, Vogel will shift to installing drywall, mechanicals, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection rough-ins on the interior as well as brick, stone and windows on the exterior. The roof should be nearing completion, and site grading will be under way.

“It’s going to be a beautiful building,” O’Connor said. “There are many architectural details and aspects. That’s what people will be most proud of — bringing all that together and giving the city of Sun Prairie what it bargained for.”

- Chris Thompson