Challenging Expansion

Senior Care Facility Undergoes Dynamic Change
By Carrie Bui

Facing extensive challenges often brings a team closer together, as was the case on the expansion of Concordia Village, a continuing care retirement community in Springfield, Ill. Teamwork and coordination became vital in order to successfully fulfill the owner and residents’ expectations. The project required extensive construction on a fast paced schedule and the construction team had to navigate around the needs of the residents as well as adapt to weather related problems.

Concordia Village, a Lutheran Senior Services retirement community, offers independent living for older adults and, as their age and needs progress, provides assisted living and additional healthcare services.

S. M. Wilson & Co. provided construction management services for the Concordia Village expansion.

The retirement community originally had 33 independent living apartments on a 37-acre site. Through the $30 million expansion, 78 independent living apartments, 48 assisted living units and five patio homes with 14 independent living units were added to the community. In addition to the new units, administrative offices and more public areas such as recreation rooms and dining facilities were added. The entire project included nine different structures totaling 225,000 square feet.

Challenges

A project of this magnitude possesses a lot of challenges for each team member. For Lutheran Senior Services Architect Jeff Brown, the challenge of designing this project was making the size work for both the residents and the staff. “We try to make it as compact as possible, so walking distances aren’t too long. Most of the activity and dining areas are in the middle of the community, and the residences kind of wrap around that. The core is like the center of town.”

Brown’s design for Concordia Village was executed with the assistance of St. Louis Design Alliance, the architect of record for the project. The architectural firm was responsible for supplying the construction drawings and working with S. M. Wilson. “We helped to coordinate the project with S. M. Wilson. This truly was a team effort,” stated Jeff Mugg, Principal Architect with St. Louis Design Alliance. “Everyone had a lead role in their specific area of responsibility. We took the lead on the architectural, structural and interior design aspects.”

When it came time for construction, S. M. Wilson had to determine ways to manage a project of such a significant size. “As the project manager,” said Mark Cochran of S. M. Wilson, “the major difference I see on a project this size is the volume of issues that need to be addressed and resolved and the detail that needs to be put into the project schedule.”

In order to manage this complex project, it was split into several different areas, each assigned to a different on-site S. M. Wilson staff member. “On a project this large, a small issue that remains unresolved will quickly become a large problem and have a continued impact throughout the duration of the project,” proclaimed Cochran.

“Since there was so much going on, deciding to split the job up between the team ended up being a major step in the right direction for the project,” said on-site Project Engineer Mike Hayes. “This gave each of us more time to gain more knowledge of our specific areas, which in turn provided quicker response time to the subcontractors and helped us run a much more efficient job.”

Eric Herron, Vice President for Anderson Electric, agreed that having different managers for each area made the construction process easier for the subcontractors. “We were able to go to the specific manager and ask a question. It helped streamline the process quite a bit.” Anderson Electric was the electrical contractor on the project, furnishing all support systems for the building, such as the fire alarm, public address system, sound system and more. In addition to the significant size of the project, the team dealt with weather, the tight schedule and navigating the needs of Concordia’s residents. Weather was an obstacle throughout the summer and winter, as construction had to negotiate significant amounts of rain and mud in the summer and extreme cold in the winter. Precision Builders Vice President Doug Williams said, “We really fought through a lot of conditions between the mud and cold.” Precision was contracted to perform rough carpentry, siding and finish trim. Significant delays were caused due to unprecedented rainfalls putting a constraint on an already tight schedule.

While combating issues with the weather, construction had to be completed in just 20 months. Herron explained that S. M. Wilson supported the schedule by preparing two schedules, a three-week look ahead and a master schedule.“The three-week allowed you a little more detail in the project so you would know exactly when you were supposed to be in an area or perform a task so we could have proper material and manpower at the right time.”

The tight schedule and size of the project also affected the amount of necessary manpower. This was one of the biggest challenges for Precision Builders, said Williams. They tackled the issue of maintaining the schedule and having the necessary manpower by working with carpenters in both Springfield and Decatur, Ill.

Customization requests to residents’ homes presented another obstacle for the construction team. Options and upgrades reached into the hundreds, said Cochran. In order to track these requests, S. M. Wilson utilized a web-based customization program that Lutheran Senior Services had used on past projects. The program allowed the team to track the residents’ options and upgrades. “Once these selections were made, we then had to disseminate all the information to the appropriate subcontractors and ensure the work in the field matched the information requested by the residents,” Cochran explained.

Resolutions

These challenges were met with a combination of teamwork, planning and focusing on the end goal. “You’ve got to have the relationship between the team members to work through any problems,” said Mark Schoedel, Vice President of Construction and Technology for Lutheran Senior Services.

S. M. Wilson, Lutheran Senior Services and the subcontractors developed that relationship through constant communication and regular meetings. Meetings were used to review the project’s progress, discuss issues and determine ways to complete tasks more efficiently or better. “We worked very hard to keep our goals for the project in sight while we dealt with the day to day issues of running a project. I think this was critical to the team attitude displayed by all, including the subcontractors, that ultimately led to the successful completion of this project,” Cochran said.

Expanding Concordia Village was a challenging project that required significant effort and a spirit of partnership among all project team members. “I think the teamwork part of it was very good. There were subs that we had never worked with, but we worked very well with them and as time went on, we became very good friends,” stated Williams.

Residents of Concordia Village are wowed by the expansion, noted Schoedel. Through hard work and a team effort, S. M. Wilson and the subcontractors expanded a small independent living campus into a large continuing care retirement community, with a quality living environment and health services for Springfield and the surrounding area. Due to the efforts of the project team, the residents of Concordia Village have never been happier.