Chippewa Park Carousel Construction
by Scott A. Sumner
I asked Peter Belluz, Principal of contractor M Builds, some questions on the Chippewa project.
This is a very interesting project with I am sure had some unique aspects to the work. How did your work begin and what were the steps in the process?
“ M Builds involvement in the Chippewa Park Carousel Enclosure Building started last summer, when the City of Thunder Bay advertised a tender call for a Design Build contract for a design and construction team to provide an enclosure for the historic Carousel at Chippewa Park. This project immediately caught the attention of everyone in our M Builds office. The debate began about how best to provide a unique enclosure building, at a cost that the City of Thunder Bay could afford.”
“ Normally, design build contracts are used for simple projects that designers and contractors have repeated many times before, for example like a warehouse and the designers use their skills to make the design as lean as possible. This project was different, and promised an opportunity for the M Builds designers to use their skills to create a one of a kind, unique structure.
“ The City mandated the building be very tall and asked for a 6 feet of clearance from the highest point of the peak of the Carousel. How best to accommodate the super tall building? Do we use high walls and a flat roof, or do we try to keep the walls shorter and provide some of the height with a sloping roof structure? M Builds drafted several options. We consulted with our Architect, Candace from f-Blok Architecture. Preliminary structural modeling was done by Jesse at Unitized. Robert checked some calculations for the central core ring which is critical to the design. Anthony provided recommendations on the overall scale and aesthetics. The roof in the shape of a segmented cone was born!”
“ As a result of the call for proposals, the City representatives reviewed and liked our design. M Builds worked closely with the City Parks department, and fine tuned the building layout, design and the budget at the early stages of the project. There were many choices of where to actually locate the building at the Chippewa site, and M Builds worked with the City to locate the building where it best met the existing services and the current function the of the Park.”
How did the sub trades perform on this project which may have had some unique aspects to it? Also was working through the winter a challenge?
“All of the Subtrades were great to work with” says Morgan, Project Manager for M Builds. There was great cooperation and all the men on site respected the work that the other trades performed. However, the real tough part of the job was working continuously through the winter months. This had to be done so that the facility could open this Spring. “This is where Devin and the crew of M Builds carpenters really shined” Morgan.
“It was not a pleasant task to be working on that huge sloped roof during the winter months, but our guys did it through rain, snow and freezing cold temperatures made worse by a relentless wind coming in off Lake Superior. The progress was quite slower working the winter like that, but we got the job finished on time and with no safety issues, which is the most important aspect of the work”.
Overall how do you feel about the final project results to date?
“The final product is something that we can all be proud of. The spaciousness of the interior roof design and the viewing angles into the Carousel from the Workshop areas and out on to Lake Superior are second to none. The building is highly energy efficient with robust heating and cooling systems and a humidity control system to help protect the Carousel itself. The finishes and wood accents on the interior blend in with the Park surroundings. The design has provided comfortable washrooms right on site and the direct access to the main Pavilion Building provides good accessibility for all visitors to the park.
“In a typical design-build project, there is always give and take” comments Peter Belluz, Principal of M Builds. “Working with the City of Thunder Bay representatives Werner and Guy and Cory and Ian diligently at the outset of the project gave the project a sound start and helped to ensure the project was completed not only on time, but in accordance with everyone's list of must haves which has made the project a great success”.
