Green Bay, Wisconsin Wal-Mart

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will begin work next week in Green Bay, Wisconsin as part of project that involves an intensive gut and remodel of a Wal-Mart. We will be providing some exterior site demolition work to improve the store approach aesthetics. Simultaneously, a crew of skilled laborers will facilitate a complete interior teardown.

While Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is regarded for our seamless approach to full building demolition, we retain a capable group of highly trained workers who perform selective demolition. Workers who perform such tasks must have a keen eye which is attentive to detail; the effort is to effectively remove material based on the scope of work while preserving items which are to remain in tact. Proper planning, project management, and scope sequence are pivotal factors for positive outcomes

Demolition Work In Arcadia, WI Covered By Winona, MN Newspaper

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. received some news coverage in Winona, Minnesota concerning our work in Arcadia, Wisconsin. The article was published in the “Winona Dailey News” with the article by Dustin Kass dustin.kass@lee.net.
Photograph by Melissa Carlo, also of the “Winona Dailey News”.

Demolition of two Arcadia landmarks to improve traffic, pedestrian safety

ARCADIA, Wis. — A crowd of curious onlookers spread across the Cleveland Street sidewalk Thursday. Many aimed cameras or camera phones at the Massuere building across the street, where an excavator ripped out another section of bricks from the back wall, sending them crashing into the growing pile of rubble below. They wanted to see history fall.

“I’ve looked at it all my life,” said 92-year-old Mark Fernholz, gesturing at the demolition process from his power chair before falling silent for a few moments.

“I want to see the roof come down, and then I’m going home,” he said, smiling.

Demolition crews focused their efforts on two of Arcadia’s oldest buildings — the Massuere building and an adjacent building that was the longtime home of Maloney’s Baloney. The demolition will clear the way for a project next summer to realign the intersection of Hwy. 95 and County Road J, a much-needed change that will improve downtown safety, said Mayor John Kimmel. Many in the crowd echoed the potential benefits, but they said Arcadia will have a different look and feel without two of its landmarks.

The two-story Massuere building was likely built in 1875 as a store for The W.P Massuere Co., historians said. The large structure allowed the company to stock and sell everything from farm machinery, livestock and hardware to food and clothing items.

“The store bought everything the farmer raised and sold everything the farmer needed to buy,” according to a newspaper article from the time. The store was such a hub that many employees were required to speak English, Polish and German to better help their customers.

“It was like the Walmart of Arcadia,” Randy Kube, president of the Arcadia Historical Society, said in April.

The store probably closed in the 1930s, local historians said, but the building continued to house a variety of businesses and tenants — most recently, an insurance company, a gym for Gold’n Plump employees and apartments.

The building next door also has a rich history. Martin Maloney bought a local meat market in 1912 and renamed it Maloney’s Meat Market. The name was changed to Maloney’s Baloney after World War II, and the meat-processing business occupied the building until December, when it closed its doors in anticipation of the demolition.

The business’ departure is the only downside of the more than $1.1 million project, since it had been a “staple of our community,” Kimmel said. But he said he had no regrets about demolishing two buildings to improve traffic and pedestrian safety and make downtown Arcadia more inviting. “That’s a good trade-off in my mind.”

Out of State Emergency Response

Last week, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. mobilized a team with heavy equipment to address an emergency out of state. The circumstances required CESI to assemble our top veteran operators and project managers off of other job sites. Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is maintaining a reserved approach with regard to press releases per the wishes of the client.

What we can state is that the operation requires highly skilled professionals who can navigate and implement a prudent strategic approach in a dangerous situation. The current status is that major problem areas have been stabilized but will require our presence seven days a week for the next four months.

As the conditions become more favorable for the client, and with their authorization, we will be making statements to the press and updating more definitive information here.

Stimulus Package

Lately, there has been a great deal of discussion among our peers concerning the impact of stimulus monies released by the Federal Government; the question, has the infusion of capital resulted in a more robust construction outlook? Partisan politics aside, depending upon who you are speaking to and what industry he or she represents, responses are varied.

From the perspective of demolition and environmental remediation companies, here are the current observations. Most of the money is being allocated to local municipalities that are employing the funds to address the blight of foreclosed or abandoned homes. Given the public nature of such bids and the need for townships to get the best return on money invested, the jobs are going cheap and attracting large groups of contractors to bid the work.

For example, yesterday, bid results were posted for small demolition project on behalf of a public school in Illinois. The 40,000 square foot building attracted 23 contractors, one from out of the state. The bid range from low to high covered a $275,000.00 spread. Excessive low bidding is not a healthy reflection of what prices a robust economy would normally command; disproportionate low bidding has become the norm. Exasperating the problem is the types of companies that are submitting proposals.

As we monitor the situation, public bids are attracting many companies who express little credibility as a demolition contractor. Everything from landscape companies to remodeling firms and local residents who may possess a piece or two of equipment are bidding demolition work. The diversity of those who tender proposals reflects that business owners are attempting to diversify and/or make use of available equipment/personnel in order to keep business going. The downside is that local entities who fail to scrutinize the capabilities of contractors are placing unqualified workers in dangerous situations.

Deep, sustainable relationships with private entities have allowed Champion Environmental Services, Inc. to continue a robust workload this summer.

But what of construction and other constituents related to real estate, how has the stimulus influenced their business?
The commercial side of real estate has witnessed fewer deals and higher vacancy rates. Mostly, deals are happening in the form of sale lease backs with few developers able to secure funding for new projects as the credit markets are still unyielding. As Chris Lydon, SVP, who leads Grubb's Chicago Industrial Group, tells GlobeSt.com, “"The capital markets are having such an impact on our industry in that developers are not building spec projects because of the capital markets and credit issues," Lydon says. It's so hard to get deals done these days, which makes spec development pretty much nonexistent at this point and unlikely for the entire year. It's all going to be build-to-suit projects that you're going to see from a construction standpoint."
Link to the referenced article: http://www.globest.com/news/1461_1461/chicago/180078-1.html

The greatest impact of stimulus appears to be in the areas of road work and general infrastructure improvements. Ageing bridge, sewer system, and roadway projects reflect important improvements while providing work to many. The only downside that we have observed is that given the specialized nature of the work, fewer companies are competing for more of the money; if a company looses out on one bid, there are literally hundreds of other opportunities.

The bottom line; stock market and commodity volatility continues, jobless claims ticked up, housing starts are down, and foreclosures continue.

North Riverside Mall Asbestos Abatement

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is in the process of abating a former Firestone Tire Center at the North Riverside Mall in North Riverside, Illinois. The project involves the removal of asbestos containing material (ACM) located in showroom area in the form of drywall; additional ACM drywall from hallways and offices will also be properly removed.

As this project is a Cook County initiative, Champion Environmental Services,Inc. shall utilize local union laborers with current Illinois accreditation, medical surveillance and training while providing an onsite safety supervisor with necessary training for competent person status as required by OSHA.

Update of Activities by Champion Environmental Services, Inc.

The slow update of information here is reflective of a brisk season that is stretching our allocated resources in both people and machinery.

We are attempting to ensure that our bid for Public Building Commission of Chicago is complete in meeting all the appropriate WBE/MBE/VBE/BEPD goals. The aggressive target participation on the Michael Reese demolition and asbestos removal project is to ensure that local entities benefit financially while creating a level playing field for diverse involvement on what will be a historic undertaking for the City of Chicago.

In other news, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is receiving local press coverage of our efforts on the University of Wisconsin La Crosse initiative.

Photo of demolition activities thanks to coverage by the La Crosse Tribune; the picture is attributed to Peter Thomson of the La Cross Tribune.

Here is a link to the article and photograph: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2009/07/03/news/01destruction.txt#READ_COMMENT