Wrecking to Revitalize
by Lynette Von Minden
March 1, 2010
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A family-owned contractor manages the demolition of an urban housing project in Georgia.
The
demolition of any building can generate a range of emotions, from
sentimentality to relief and from sadness to joy. Regardless of a structure’s
current condition, it was new once, and it served a purpose—a purpose for which
it’s no longer suitable or necessary. In some instances, the demolition and
clearing of a large site for development can even generate public controversy
as some fight to preserve history while others choose to look to the
future.
Glen Thompson of Thompson Wrecking Group in Augusta, Georgia, has witnessed all
these scenarios and then some in the almost 50 years since his parents Edward
and Susan started their family business in 1961. The company offers a roll-off
rental business in addition to performing asbestos abatement and industrial,
commercial and residential demolition. “Our customer base really runs the
gamut,” Thompson says. “We rent out approximately 400 roll-off containers to
do-it-yourselfers. We also work with individuals who walk in our front door and
tell us about a house they have that needs to be torn down. At the same time,
we’ll get calls asking us to come out and estimate the demolition costs for an
entire manufacturing plant.”
Thompson Wrecking Group isn’t just family-owned; it’s also family-operated.
Glen Thompson serves as project manager over all asbestos abatement and
demolition projects as well as the procurement of heavy equipment. His brother
Hiram serves as president and oversees the bidding process, human resources,
and accounts payable and receivable. A number of other family members including
sister Pam and nephew Marcus are also on board helping with the office and
various project sites.
Thompson Wrecking managed the demolition of Gilbert Manor with its fleet of JCB excavators. Gilbert Manor was a low-income housing project located near downtown Augusta, Georgia. The site encompassed approximately 15 acres and consisted of multiple buildings with a total of 267 living units.
Back in 2008, Thompson Wrecking became involved with a fairly high-profile demolition project in the city of Augusta. The Medical College of Georgia had decided to expand its facilities and add a dental college to its campus. The most logical area for expansion was extremely close by—a property bordering the current campus near downtown Augusta. However, that property was already occupied by a sprawling low-income housing project by the name of Gilbert Manor. Constructed in 1941 and named after the late Dr. John Wesley Gilbert, a teacher, administrator and scholar who served as president of nearby Paine College, Gilbert Manor consisted of approximately 267 apartment units ranging from one to three bedrooms. “All in all, the development was spread over about 15 acres,” Glen Thompson recalls. “There was a community center and 31 residential buildings that had housed entire generations of families throughout the years.”
While Gilbert Manor may have been considered state-of-the-art for urban housing projects back in 1941, it certainly could not have been described that way during its final years. Along with rumored gang activity and other issues plaguing the complex, the buildings had no central air conditioning, and each apartment had only one small wall-based heater to heat multiple rooms.
After the Medical College of Georgia expressed interest in taking over Gilbert Manor, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave the Augusta Housing Authority approval to sell the property to the college for fair market value. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents paid $10 million for Gilbert Manor, $6.9 million of which was reverted to the Augusta Housing Authority for the development of affordable housing on other sites that could absorb Gilbert Manor’s former residents. That left $3.1 million available for demolition and site preparation. Thompson Wrecking Group won the demolition project with a bid of $640,000. Once the property was purchased, demolition had to wait until all residents were assisted by the Augusta Housing Authority and placed in new apartments and houses. The last resident moved out of Gilbert Manor in September 2008.
Bringing Down the Manor
Thompson Wrecking Group was cleared to start the demolition of Gilbert Manor in February 2009. The time frame for completely clearing the site was approximately six months, a fairly aggressive turnaround for a project of its size. Barring any unforeseen complications, the target completion date was August 2009. Glen Thompson and the crew were eager to get things going.
“On a project like Gilbert Manor, it’s important to do an initial asbestos survey before any actual demolition takes place,” Thompson says. “If there is asbestos present, we determine where it’s located and remove it. Next, we remove all the wood and interior finish, leaving only masonry behind.”
After clearing the buildings of all interior finishes, Thompson Wrecking came in with its JCB excavators and began demolishing the buildings. The company owns seven excavators: three JS330 models, two JS220 models and two JS260 models. The JS330s are the largest of Thompson Wrecking’s fleet, with 271 horsepower and a maximum digging depth of approximately 27 feet. With a high level of breakout power, these particular machines handle the heavy-duty elements of the demolition, while the smaller—but still powerful—JS220s and JS260s can be used with greater finesse in tighter spaces. “We’ve been using JCB excavators for about seven years now,” Thompson says. “We started out with a couple of used excavators, and we really liked them. After a good experience with our initial purchases, we visited our dealer, Low Country Machinery in Savannah, and added to our fleet.”
Thompson goes on to explain that his company has actually personalized its excavators, giving each its own name and putting the names across each machine’s engine cover in large block letters. “Big Nasty,” “Jaws” and “Son of Nasty” are just a few of the humorous monikers that Thompson Wrecking has given members of its excavator fleet. “These machines get put through the wringer,” Thompson says. “Giving them their own names makes them easier to identify when they need servicing, for example. It also brings a little more fun to the whole process.”
Recycling Masonry
After the initial phase of the demolition was completed and the excavators had knocked down the brick buildings of Gilbert Manor, Thompson Wrecking used a JCB JS330 outfitted with a Genesis attachment to pulverize all of the masonry. “Every bit of concrete and brick on this project was recycled,” Thompson explains. “We crush it using a specialized attachment, and then another excavator loads out the material to a processing plant where it’s crushed down to a much smaller size.”
The masonry recycled from Gilbert Manor will be used in the construction of the new medical and dental college facilities that the Medical College of Georgia is now building on the site. “It’s kind of a nice way to get additional use from the buildings that were here for almost 60 years, and it saves the property owner money by not having to transport additional stone in for the new construction,” Thompson says. “We offer this type of recycling service to all our customers, and it’s especially economical for those customers located in areas where there are no quarries nearby. The transportation costs for stone can be considerable and recycling helps to avoid that situation.”
Revitalizing Augusta
After six long months, the demolition of Gilbert Manor was finally completed in August 2009. “We were very fortunate to have everything go so smoothly,” Thompson says. “We really didn’t have any mishaps along the way, and as a result, we finished demolition one day ahead of schedule. As we were moving out, the construction crews were moving in.”
The Medical College of Georgia’s expansion into the Gilbert Manor property is now well underway. Hundreds of state and local officials were on hand for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the cleared site on Oct. 2, 2009. The Medical College of Georgia’s School of Dentistry, planned for a portion of the site, will take approximately two years to build, with occupation scheduled for fall 2011. The 268,788-square-foot building will be more than 100,000 square feet larger than the existing building, which opened in 1970. The facility will house the dental school’s nine specialty clinics, two large student clinics, simulation labs, the School of Allied Health Sciences’ dental hygiene program, an administration area, an expanded faculty practice and a new Center for Esthetic and Implant Dentistry. Other school of medicine facilities will also be built on the site in the future.
“We were pleased to be part of a project that has the potential to help the entire state of Georgia by providing the opportunity for better education and better healthcare,” Thompson says. “The new dental college and the other buildings planned for the former Gilbert Manor site will also play a role in revitalizing the city of Augusta’s downtown area, truly taking it into the twenty-first century.”
Lynette Von Minden
Lynette
Von Minden is a public relations counsel for the Swanson Russell marketing
communications agency in Lincoln,
Nebraska. She works primarily
with clients in both the construction and green industries.
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