It’s been a good week for our revitalization efforts. We’ve made progress on all fronts.
Showroom
The asbestos abatement in the showroom has been completed and the room cleared for use. The steel for the construction of the showroom floor arrived. We also have bids on the radiant flooring for the showroom and are reviewing gas-boiler and steam options.
Two weeks ago we cut away the steel walls on top of the dumbwaiter and last week we demo’d the concrete floor above it. After removing the concrete, we will cut away the I-beams supporting the floor and reposition them to reinforce the pillar that will remain. In the meantime, we will be marking the positions for the placement of the floor structure.
The existing floor is a patchwork of pavers and solid concrete. We will need to remove the pavers to get down to the concrete and then obtain a bore sample to determine the thickness of the concrete. This is a mystery right now. We don’t know what’s underneath.
Internal systems
Evaluation of the air handlers on all the floors has been completed and detailed repair plans are being reviewed.
Ace Sprinkler replaced three control valves in the fire-suppression system on Floors 1, 2 and 3. The great thing about working with Ace is that they maintained the system before we took ownership of the building.
Water pressure for the fire-suppression system has surfaced as a problem. Ace has determined that the problem is low water pressure from the city system to the building. Crews from the city having been working on the problem, but, as yet, haven’t been able to to determine why the pressure is low.
The crew from Detroit Elevator continues to work on the elevators; phone lines and jacks have been installed in the elevators.
Clean up
Clean up on the second floor has been a big job — most of the offices were filled with trash. We’ve loaded up two 30-yard Dumpsters so far.
We also have cleared the atrium of weeds and trash and opened the door on the east side of the building to begin clearing out the brush and debris. Much to our surprise, we kicked out three coyotes hanging out by the Dumpsters. If they show up again, we’ll try to snap a few pictures to share with you.
If you have any questions about our revitalization of the NBC-Nabisco building, please comment and let me know.
Stay tuned. Next update 9/17.
–Pref
