Mount Pleasant Town Hall Magazine

35 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.MPTownHall.com MOUNT PLEASANT Town Hall therefore we have to design and build with those seismic forces in mind. It can create more than normal issues, but, overall, this project went really well.” Duffy said working with the architects, Stubbs Muldrow Herin, was a wonderful experience. “They were incredible to work with,” he said. “They wanted quality and were extremely helpful working through any issues that arose. It’s incredible to see the finished product from where we first started.” • • • • • • • • • • From the laying of the slab to the opening of the doors and beyond, HR Allen Inc. was on the job at Mount Pleasant’s new Town Hall for all things electrical. Under the overall supervision of project manager Billy Kelly , HR Allen employed as many as 25 workers, from a superintendent to electricians and from apprentices to support personnel. In all, the company laid 23 miles of conduit and more than 85 miles of wire, enough, in Kelly’s words, “to stretch from Mount Pleasant to somewhere between Orangeburg and Columbia.” Among the complicated systems the company worked on, over and above basic wiring, were video surveillance, Datacom, card access and fire alarms. From the slab to framing, steelwork and decking, “Once we were mobilized, we pretty much stayed on the job,” Kelly said. Asked about any challenges the electrical contractor faced working on the new Town Hall, Kelly noted that his people sometimes had to deal with tight quarters because the building sits on a very compact site. By comparison, he added, a recent HR Allen job for a North Charleston Public Works project sprawled over 38 acres. As far as the experience of working on the new Town Hall, Kelly noted that “we are proud and pleased to be a part of this, and we feel we had some excellent partners on the job, including Falcon Fire Systems and NextGen Technologies.” After the grand opening, HR Allen, Inc. had a two- or three-member team on-site to iron out any kinks in the system. • • • • • • • • • • Once the steel framing was in place, Acousti Engineering came in and put up the ceiling and wall systems for the new Town Hall. Taking about a year to complete its part of the job, Acousti was responsible for putting up the custom designed walls and ceilings that were made specifically for this project. Bill Barlow , branch manager of the Charleston Acousti office, said the project began with a pre- construction meeting so that everyone could coordinate and discuss plans and requirements. “Coordinating a project like this is a big deal. You have to make sure everything will match up, from the sprinkler systems, the A/C and duct work – you have to make sure it all fits together before you get carried away installing,” he explained. He said there’s a “rough-in” that occurs first, and, once that’s complete, mechanical, electrical and plumbing comes in and installs the electrical lines and the duct work. “Once that’s done, we come in and put in our suspension system,” Barlow said. “We have six different types of acoustical ceiling systems in this project.” Over the detention rooms for example, “We have a security metal system. Over the Council chambers, it’s a linear wood system,” Barlow said. Echoing Division Five, Barlow said the one thing that impacts construction in Charleston is that the area is in a seismic category D zone. “That means it’s the same as if we were located on the San Andreas fault in California,” he commented. Anything built in this area, including the Town Hall, must meet extensive seismic requirements and be built to a specific code. “It makes it a bit more complicated in how everything is installed, and it’s considerably more involved,” he added. Barlow, with Acousti for 25 years, said the company has been a family-owned business for 70 years, and they were excited to be a part of building the Mount Pleasant Town Hall. • • • • • • • • • • Before the first concrete was poured or the first piece of steel superstructure put into place, Allston Farrell Construction of Mount Pleasant was on the job. The highway and street construction specialists were tasked with bringing the site of Mount Pleasant’s new Town Hall to grade before any actual construction could begin, a job that called upon 10 workers and equipment ranging from a trackhoe to a bulldozer, a grader and mini-excavators. When the site was leveled and ready for construction, Allston Farrell turned its attention to the parking lot, handling the grading, paving, drainage system, curbing and striping. In all, the site preparation and the parking lot Bill Barlow