Failed hotel project returns as tower for engineering school

Listen to this article

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s new Grohmann Tower is the speed with which it was finished. The entire project, from conception to completion, was brought to a close in just over ten months. The construction itself took a mere 17 weeks.

In the fall of 2013, the school purchased a planned Staybridge Suites hotel, which had stood unfinished and almost entirely vacant since 2009. Financial troubles had halted the work, and the site remained dormant amid a long legal battle and contractors’ and lenders’ attempts to recover money from the failed project.

Hermann Viets, president of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, conceived a plan for the vacant, unfinished and deteriorating property. His idea was to respond to the university’s shortage of onsite quality housing for students by hiring Uihlein/Wilson Architects Inc., Milwaukee, for a complex undertaking involving both a renovation and some new construction. Hunzinger Construction Co., Brookfield, was appointed construction manager and performed demolition, concrete and rough- and dry-finish carpentry work.

But the structure, after sitting dormant for five years without its envelope being sealed, had begun to show signs of damage inflicted during a series of brutally cold winters. A Glycol heat-exchange unit pumped 100-degree air into the building for two to three weeks before the building could be tested and then sealed with re-caulked windows. An original working elevator had seized up, and three others in various states of installation had to be completely refurbished. The elevator rails were corroded and had to be sanded by hand. New cables and belts, motors and circuit boards were installed by Otis Elevator.

Subcontractors had to work together to test electrical, plumbing, heating-and-cooling and fire-protection systems. Some of the building’s pipes had burst and needed to be rerouted. More than 50 percent of the piping needed to be inspected, repaired or replaced by the electrical contractor, Uihlein Electric Co. Inc., Brookfield.

“Uihlein performed exceptionally,” said Jon Jansen, Hunzinger project executive. “They stayed ahead of the other trades, which allowed us to keep the job moving at the pace needed to get this tough job done in time for the students’ arrival.”

By Jun. 1, drywall and painting had begun on all 102 units in the building’s nine floors. Doors, cabinets and accompanying hardware were installed within a matter of weeks, keeping pace with a Sept. 1 target date for completion.

The project tested managers’ and crew members’ ability to perform large repairs, extensive renovations and new construction.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z47RrhAha3o]