A Warp Speed Project

By K. Robert Wendel

At the Reno Events Center, think warp speed rather than a fast track job.

Builders had less than one year to construct an 118,000-sq.-ft. events center in the middle of downtown Reno on an extremely tight site. Many doubted it could be done.

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"Reno is a betting town and there were bets flying all over whether we would get this done on time," said project director Mark Wilkerson of Reno's Q & D Construction, the project's general contractor. "It was an impossible schedule, but we did it."

Construction crews received a notice to proceed on Jan. 2, 2004, and they completed the $28 million project in December. The project was funded through room tax revenues.

Before contractors could start, the site had to be demolished and remediated. Contractors excavated 12,000 cu.yds of contaminated soil from the site, which over the years had been home to gas stations, laundries and dry cleaners.

"There had been some site work done well in advance, so when Q & D got in there, they pretty much had a clean site," said architect Fred Graham of Reno-based Worth Group, which did the construction administration.

The two- story project takes up the entire city block and sits across the street from the National Bowling Museum. Originally, plans called for the new events center and the bowling museum to be connected by an over head bridge, but designers ultimately had to change the plans.

"We had all sorts of issues with height requirements and fire access, so it just made sense to take it out,"said Tom Bos, an engineer with the Reno-based civil engineering firm CFA Inc.

The steel-framed building sits on stem footings and features massive, 240-ft.- long, 24-ft.- deep trusses spanning a 55,000-sq.-ft. main hall. Contractors needed three cranes to lift the trusses, which were supplied by Reno's Martin Ironworks, into place.

Bragg Crane provided the cranes.

Because of the fast track, contractors needed to get the concrete slab in quick, but the design called for different colors of integrally stained concrete. Contractors would have needed to build a form for each concrete section, pour the concrete and then strip the form, repeating the process dozens of times.

To pour 5,000 cu. yds would have taken too long. Contractors teamed with designers to re- engineer the control joints and the team adopted a slip- dowel system, similar to those used in airport runways, to speed the concrete pours.

"We decided this could be done differently so we worked with the construction engineer to create a more constructible plan," said Q & D senior superintendent Chris Osheroff. "Concrete has a tendency to curl, but with those dowels, the floor is perfectly flat."

To achieve the colors desired by the architect, contractors used a polymer spray, which saved both time and money.

The multipurpose hall features movable seating for 7,500 people. There are also 10 suites that double as meeting space. The project features the latest sound and video system and an extensive amount of acoustical treatments to enhance the sound quality.

Fire- safety issues are addressed with an automatic smoke- alarm system.

Pneumatic cylinders throw open all the doors in the events center and huge fans kick on to exhaust the smoke.

"The smoke- evacuating system is designed per the code, but it has a manual override system," said Mike Blanc, a construction manager with the Houston-based mechanical engineering firm CHPA. "If you have something like a pyrotechnic event, you can manually operate the exhaust fans to move the smoke out."

Because the project sits on a zero lot line, architects wanted to engage passing pedestrians, so an extensive amount of glass curtain wall is employed.

"We wanted people to not only see a building with some drama to it, but we wanted it to be a building that was inviting at night," said architect Bill Halter of Atlanta's

Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback and Associates, the project's architect of record. "The glass enclosures in the evening become internally illuminated and transparent so people animate the building at the street's edge."

The project carries the illuminating theme throughout the events center, with vibrantly colored glass art glass suspended from the ceiling and illuminated internally. The glass art was designed by California artist Cork Marcheschi.

Since it opened, the center has been host to numerous performances and events, and plans are under way for the construction of a ballroom facility that could seat 3,000 people for banquets.

"Right now, we have in progress, or on the books, more than $500 million of investment in downtown," said city consultant John MacIntyre of Reno-based JMAC Associates. "We have several condo projects, a new transit center and a new city hall plaza. We have lots happening."

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