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Saving grace
Derrick Commercial delivers expansion under budget
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The people at Bethel Highlands Church have learned to have a little bit more faith in Wisconsin’s general contractors.
The Hudson congregation initially chose a Twin Cities-area firm, which does up to $300 million in business a year, to build a new 500-seat sanctuary, 2,000-square-foot children’s theater and classroom space for 350 students.
But after the firm suggested the project would come in about $1 million over project budget — and after treating the congregation as just another project — church building committee members needed to either find a new contractor or scrap the entire project.
One committee member, who is also a contractor, suggested using Derrick Commercial Contracting, New Richmond.
“He said, ‘This may appear out of the ordinary, but I feel you could really provide a lot of good to this congregation,’” said Mark Johnson, senior project manager for Derrick Commercial, of the committee member.
Johnson said he went through a list of cuts and modifications the larger firm said were necessary to make budget. Eventually, Johnson said he re-priced the job based on the church’s original plans and was able to come within $175,000 of the church’s budget.
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Project Essentials Project
name: Bethel Highlands Church
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“Talk about putting the wind in their sails,” Johnson said. “It was like the ship is afloat again.”
Johnson said a change in building materials saved the church $225,000.
“They were looking at a great deal of structural steel,” Johnson said. “We proposed the idea of wood-frame construction.”
Johnson said the church applied the savings toward a sound and light system.
Throughout the design and construction process, Johnson said Derrick Commercial continued to make changes to keep the project affordable for the church.
In the end, the project came in between $60,000 and $75,000 below budget, he said.
“It has won award after award,” Johnson said of the project. “Another church looking to build a new facility saw it and said, ‘If we could replicate this exact building, we’d do it.’”
— Janine Anderson