Client Profile - Karkela Construction was the construction manager for a 35,000 square foot renovation project of the second-level meeting rooms, ballroom and public areas of the Radisson South Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota.  It was imperative that Karkela work in a manner that allowed most of the space to be accessible to the public and safe for their visitors and guests to travel through.

Client Needs – The hotel’s original plan was to give this public area a much-needed facelift to make it more marketable.  However, in light of recent high-occupancy patron problems during the two-year window planning stage – and with public awareness and concern in mind – the hotel management decided to combine a cosmetic facelift with a strong emphasis on life safety issues to better ensure guest and employee safety.

The project consisted of renovating the Grand Ballroom, the Veranda Ballroom, two meeting rooms and the prefunction area as well as the walkway at the atrium.  Through meetings with hotel management, ICI Design, the architectural firm and Karkela, with some direction from the city’s fire marshal and inspectors, an updated and safety-focused plan was created.

The Grand Ballroom and prefunction area were located out of the traffic flow and were completed as a set-apart project.  As work progressed on the two meeting rooms and walkway, Karkela's employees had to be vigilant about protecting the public’s safety, providing convenient access, and ensuring a positive public attitude toward the hotel.  The Karkela team workers worked on small areas, completed the work, and then rotated to another small area, while allowing for hotel guest traffic flow.

Karkela’s Solution – Working with subcontractors, many who were not part of Karkela's usual team, required that the site superintendent develop methods for communicating work needs and policy and procedures.  Each person on the team was issued Karkela’s Rules of Conduct outlining safety, expected personal conduct (appropriate attire, smoking, profanity and radio use, etc.), parking and site access, security, and dock usage and delivery procedures.

Karkela was able to meet the tight timeframe that allowed marketing of the hotel’s availability one week after completion date.  The project required a team effort that included many 16 hour work days as well as Saturday work to ensure that the project was completed on time and on budget.  Life safety issues that were not part of initial bidding added cost to the project, but the project still came in on time and within the budget established by the hotel.