Construction started last month on the Sunday Breakfast Mission Women’s Shelter Addition. This is a 32,000 SF three story building addition to the Mission’s existing building. We started this design process about two years ago with EDiS Companies. The mission is a stones’ throw from the EDiS offices on the riverfront in downtown Wilmington.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS!

A view of the existing Sunday Breakfast Mission men’s shelter, grading complete and foundations being excavated.

Well, that was last month. This past week I was in Wilmington to check in on Mark Grunza and the EDiS team as they continue to build the new facility. The building, although there, is now officially GONE! The CMU fire wall between the two buildings hides everything that was unappealing in the old structure.

The foundations are all in. We had to bring in about 5′ of new subgrade to replace the contaminated on-site soils. Excavation into this material was nothing short of perfect, nearly vertical, sliced 3′ cuts.

Front entry canopy column pedestals and front entry wall foundation structure line.

Unlike three years ago, there is no shortage of quality masons in today’s construction economy. These guys had constructed this leg of the wall while I was onsite. There are three penetrations in this wall to accommodate doors and interior windows that adjoin a new lobby.

14′ High CMU Firewall, totally self supporting. Designed by Steven Franco.

Firewall is an “L” shape as the new building covers two sides of the existing building.

Steel is also being erected. This is a structural steel building that is going up on a very tight site. Steel is erected as it is being delivered by RC Fabricators out of Wilmington. Would you like to guess who is supplying the structural steel package?

The beginning of steel erection, beginning on the 3 story dorm portion.

I know you are getting close to figuring out steel supplier…

All foundations are block foundations, nothing of an oddity on the east coast.  Depending on who you are talking to about a project we won’t mention, the only thing out of place would be the carbon based stuff in this photo.

And here’s your last clue.

Check in next month for more photos of SBM and in two weeks, onto a bit breezier environment – Casper, Wyoming.

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