By Jamie Ausk Crisafulli
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
Football fans should not expect to purchase their popcorn at the new concession stand at the Red Devil football opener Sept. 2, which was the original completion date for the building.
But with the current timeline, hard work by the contractors and a little luck in the weather department, the concession stand and bathrooms should be ready by Dawson County High School’s Homecoming football game on Sept. 16, according Coon Construction’s Rhett Coon.
Waiting for new engineering plans gave the project a late start this summer. Coon said they had the final approved engineering plans in hand on July 1.
Since then, work on the concession stand building at the Oakland Athletic Complex has been as steady as concrete curing and material availability has allowed since early July, according to Coon.
“We’ve actually been moving pretty good. ... Basically we had eight to 10 weeks to build the thing, order the structural stuff so with the concrete cures times, we’ve got eight weeks of the process, and you have to let it cure, and process ...” he said.
On Thursday, workers focused on the outer foundation wall located near Kendrick Avenue and the meter pit where the water main connects and branches off for drain and irrigation lines.
The floor trusses put in place over the weekend are part of a re-engineering process that was necessary when it was discovered the trusses originally planned would have taken 12 weeks to arrive.
The masonry work on the structure is scheduled to begin late next week or the following week, according to Coon, adding that he wants to have the outside of the building done by game time Sept. 2.
The concrete shell of the bottom level of the building, which will be used for storage, has been visible for some time.
The area that will hold the concession stand and bathrooms will be added soon now that the floor trusses are in place.
In the late stage of the project, Coon noted that there will be fewer variables to contend with as far as things like material wait times. Work will get done based on the time put in by contractors.
Coon has looked to several local contractors for subcontract work on the project. Gordon Almond Construction, Yellowstone Plumbing and Dave Api are among the local contractors he expected to be part of the project. The masonry company with local ties was too booked up to help with the project, so Hill Masonry from Billings will be working on the project. Hill has donated around $35,000 in materials for the concession stand project.
The work completed on the project has so far been successful.
Coon said he just got the results back on some of the testing of the current work and noted they are “like 250 percent on all of our test results” that have been done at the construction site so far.
“Some engineers in town have stopped by and looked at it and said if there is a tornado in town, this is the place they want to be,” Coon said.
Reach Jamie Ausk Crisafulli at rreditor@rangerreview.com.