Proud Partner of ABC Supply Stadium, Home of the Beloit Sky Carp

Photo courtesy of the Beloit Sky Carp.

Photo courtesy of the Beloit Sky Carp.

While the Beloit Sky Carp kick off the 2022 Season at ABC Supply Stadium this month, it wasn’t that long ago the possibility of Minor League Baseball disappearing from Beloit felt very real.

You see, the Beloit Sky Carp (formerly known as the Beloit Snappers) previously called Pohlman Field home. It was an older stadium located in the middle of an older neighborhood with no other attractions to bring fans in, and the team’s attendance numbers reflected that. So, when the Beloit Snappers found themselves on the list of potential teams to eliminate when the MLB took over the governance of the Minors, three very important people pulled together to save Minor League Baseball in Beloit.

Diane Hendricks, a pillar of the Beloit community, Quint Studer, owner of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball team, and his wife Mary Studer pitched a plan to Major League Baseball for how they would build a stadium entirely through private funding, and that Studer would own the franchise and make it a success. And as an added bonus to saving baseball in the Beloit community, the stadium would be constructed with as much local manpower and materials as possible.

”CCI is honored to have been chosen as the general contractor to build ABC Supply Stadium,” said Mark Hartwig, Project Manager for CCI. “The stadium will serve as a catalyst to help create vibrancy in downtown Beloit and the surrounding community. The first stadium in the nation to meet all current MLB facility standards, it’s also more than just a place to watch baseball. The family-friendly venue will host concerts, youth sports, and other seasonal events.”

While CCI explored its options for stadium risers - including form and pour concrete and composite deck type systems with structural steel, Hartwig said precast was chosen for its flexibility, durability, and quality of design. Mid-States Concrete provided more than 220 riser pieces for the stadium.

”Besides baseball being the American pastime, you do not get many opportunities to be part of building a state-of-the-art baseball stadium in your hometown,” said Jeremy Olivotti, Vice President of Preconstruction for Mid-States. “This is a park our community will enjoy. A park our team and their families will enjoy and that we can be proud of.”

Hartwig said the use of precast concrete risers saved probably about 40-percent compared to other systems, as well as four- to six-weeks of schedule. Logistically, precast concrete was a huge benefit as once the precast concrete is set, there is very little work that needs to be done after and the crew could move on to the next trade.

”The stadium will be in use for generations to come,” added Mid-States Project Manager Brad McCaslin. “Each (visitor) will walk, stand, and sit on our risers.”

And while the project had its share of challenges, including fitting into a seven-acre footprint when most ballparks have at least 11-acres; it had to be finished in 13 months as opposed to the normal 18 months; the stadium had to meet all of Major League Baseball’s standards; and it was constructed during a global pandemic that impacted material and equipment availability. It also needed a significant amount of environmental remediation; required work to improve the structural integrity of the ground beneath the new construction; trucking in and replacement of soils bringing the site elevation up two feet; and site dewatering while installing underground utilities within feet of the Rock River. All of these challenges were overcome by a project team dedicated to the success of the project.

This season will be the team’s first full season at ABC Supply Stadium, but the team did get 24 games in last season and boasted significantly larger crowds and more energy than their last location.

”It was just awesome having people there,” said Maria Valentyn, Vice President of Entertainment. “It’s a gorgeous facility and we certainly feel very spoiled. I have worked in many minor league ballparks and this is by far my favorite.”

From the state-of-the-art technology with a large-scale video board with live feed and scoreboard, to the versatile turf field, to the hospitality space including Deck Deck Goose and Coors Light Chill Zone, to the 360-degree concourse, this stadium offers a true experience.

”No matter what ticket you have, you can walk all around the ballpark,” Valentyn said. “Some of those fences are low enough that you can engage with our players. The kind of accessibility we can provide to young fans (is something) that you don’t get at a major league ballpark.”

In addition to providing an amazing baseball season with plenty of promotions like giveaways, fireworks, and tons of theme nights for all ages, there are also several non-gameday events planned at the stadium. These include movie nights, a 5K, a craft beer festival, and an amateur cornhole event.

”All of these events will be very affordable,” Valentyn said. “… The goal is always to make sure these events are affordable for everyone in the community.”

Fans of Snappy will also be happy to know that Snappy is going to stick around for the Snappy Chase at least, but he will be getting a new friend.

”We hope to have our new friend hatching before the start of the season,” Valentyn said.

With ABC Supply Stadium’s location in downtown Beloit, as well as so many great bars, restaurants, shops, and even the Farmers Market, baseball season and all the events at the stadium are sure to help drive tourism and bring people to see all the wonderful things Beloit has to offer.

Precast:
224 Pieces of Stadium Riders
2 Wall Panels

Partners:
GC: Corporate Contractors, Inc.
Architect: Jones Petrie Rafinski

Further Reading:
ABC Supply Stadium: Saying farewell while saying hello
Visiting ABC Supply Stadium, new home of the Beloit Snappers

PCI of Illinois/Wisconsin Presents: How Precast Protects

Image credit to PCI-IW.

By PCI IW

It is a difficult time for our infrastructure. Wildfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and more have affected the structures within our communities. How can we protect them and the occupants inside? The durability of precast concrete protects not only the people within a structure, but protects the day-to-day activities and life of the community around it.

Design for Fire

Precast offers inherent fire protection and is a non-combustible material, meaning it won’t burst in to flame like wood or other construction materials. Because of this inherent fire protection, precast can be designed into controlled spaces which limit the spread of fires. Precast is also able to provide passive fire protection because it does not have to rely on any other systems such as sprinklers in order to limit the spread of a fire within a structure.

Design for Blast Resistance

Precast concrete is an economical solution for buildings such as governmental facilities that require extra protection such as blast resistance and anti-terrorism/force protection design. In the event of a blast event or explosion, the main goal of blast resistant designs is to protect the occupants of a building with an acceptable level of safety. Precast concrete components such as precast wall panels can be designed to support blast loads that can be expected during these blast events, while also protecting the people inside the building from the actual blast and debris.

Design for Seismic

Even though earthquakes may not be felt at the same magnitude as the West Coast, all regions of the country can benefit from the seismic protection that precast concrete can offer. Precast has been used in various seismic regions across the globe and has already been proven to react well during major seismic events. PCI is a leader in developing design solutions that provide an effective response to earthquakes including hybrid post-tensioned precast frames, pretensioned precast frames, and shear wall systems.

Design for Storm Resistance

Precast concrete is inherently resistant to extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes along with the high winds, surge, and debris that often come with them. FEMA shelters use precast concrete for its shelters in regions that experience many storms to create buildings that withstand these types of storms.

Precast Chalk Talk: Episode 31

In this episode of Precast Chalk Talk, President Hagen Harker discusses our most versatile product - hollowcore.

Precast Concrete Sustainability: The Building Envelope

By PCI

Due to its density, concrete has the capacity to absorb and store large quantities of heat, contributing to a high-performance building envelope. Its thermal mass allows concrete to react very slowly to changes in outside temperature to reduce peak heating and cooling loads and delay the time at which these loads occur. The resulting savings can be significant - up to 25% of heating and cooling costs.

Thermal mass and energy savings

ASHRAE STANDARD 90.1 acknowledges the thermal mass benefits of concrete walls in specifying lower minimum insulation R-value and higher maximum wall U-factors for mass (concrete) wall construction.

Research conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory compared the dynamic thermal performance of insulated concrete walls with that of a traditional wood frame. Research shows that insulated concrete sandwich walls constructed with composite connector technology utilize the thermal mass effects of concrete to create an “equivalent wall performance R-value” several times greater than a traditional material R-value calculation.

Energy-saving benefits of thermal mass are most pronounced when the outside temperature fluctuates above and below the balance temperature of the building, causing a reversal of heat flow within the wall. The balance point is generally between 50- and 70-degrees Fahrenheit.

These ideal conditions for thermal mass exist on a daily basis at all locations in the United States and Canada.

Another factor affecting the behavior of thermal mass is internal heat gain. This includes heat generated inside the building by lights, equipment, appliances and people; and heat from the sun entering through windows. Generally, during the heating season, benefits of thermal mass increase with the availability of internal heat gains. During the cooling season, thermal mass exposed to the building’s occupied spaces will absorb internal gains, shifting peak cooling periods. Concrete exposed to the interior, not covered by insulation and gypsum wallboard, works best to absorb internal gains, saving cooling energy.

Color

Color (albedo) of precast concrete panels can be used to improve the energy-conserving features of the walls. Panels with high albedo (generally lighter in color) can help reduce the urban heat-island effect. Albedo is the ratio of the amount of solar radiation reflected from a material surface to the amount that shines on the surface.

Generally, materials that appear to be light colored have high albedo and those that appear dark colored have low albedo. On exterior surfaces, high albedo decreases solar heat gain; low albedo increases solar heat gain. A low albedo north wall and high albedo east and west walls and roof form the most energy-conserving arrangement in a northern hemisphere climate that uses both heating and cooling. High albedo surfaces are especially important where cooling dominates the energy requirements. It should be noted, however, that the color of the exterior walls has less affect on energy consumption when the walls have high R-values and thermal mass.

Heat-island effect

Light-colored exterior surfaces also help reduce urban heat-islands. Urban areas are up to seven-degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding areas. This difference is attributed to more buildings and pavements that have taken the place of vegetation. Where buildings and paved surfaces are required, using materials with higher albedos will reduce the heat-island effect, save energy by reducing the demand for air conditioning, and improve air quality.

Air infiltration

Air infiltration has significant effects on the amount of energy required to heat and cool a building. Large precast concrete panels have minimal joints, reducing uncontrolled air infiltration.

Women in Construction Week: Kristen Heiser

Mid-States Concrete Industries celebrates Women in Construction Week (March 6 – 12) by highlighting women on our team making their mark in the construction industry.

Today we feature Senior Project Designer Kristen Heiser, who has been with Mid-States Concrete for 15 years.

“In high school, I kept rearranging my room and I wanted to rearrange the living room, but my dad wouldn’t let me,” Kristen said. “High school had a board drafting class and that was that. And then it became a computer course, AutoCad 1, and I liked it, so I went for my major in CAD work.”

In her role as Senior Project Designer, Kristen takes contract drawings and then creates shop drawings for our team, which include all the pertinent information they need to appropriately manufacture and install the precast components.

“No two jobs are the same,” Kristen said. “It’s always different. Even similar jobs are not similar… They all have different requirements.”

What Kristen enjoys about precast is that it is always evolving. The buildings are getting bigger, and more complicated. It’s not just straight beams anymore. This is also one of the biggest challenges of her job.

When Kristen reflects back on all the buildings she’s worked on – two stick out. The first is the very first project she ever did for Mid-States. It was a two-story golf clubhouse at a country club and there were no straight lines, everything was angled. And while Kristen worked off of dimensions that were taken in the field by her fellow Mid-States team members, when the pieces got to the site, they didn’t fit. This resulted in tons of section cuts, but in the end the project turned out just fine. Luckily, Kristen’s following projects didn’t have the same issue.

The other project that stands out is St. James Church in Belvidere, because she and her son attend that church. She knew the project was one Mid-States would work on and started asking around, inquiring whether she could serve as the designer on the project. She ended up getting the drawings from the sales team on Ash Wednesday. The project was unique as a formliner was used on the wall panels to match the stone of the then 104-year-old church. It was also one of Mid-States Concrete’s first jobs that used C-GRID, and had the added complexity of the openings for the stained glass windows.

Kristen has grown used to working in a male-dominated field as even early on she was often one of the only women in her classes, but she thrived.

“The guys knew I knew what I was doing and they’d come ask me for help,” she said.

In terms of advice for other women looking to get in to the field: just go for it. If that’s what you like to do, there’s no reason you can’t do it.