Warfel Construction Company Named Accredited Quality Contractor

Warfel Construction Company is pleased to announce that the firm has been named an Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Only 450 of the nation’s elite merit shop construction contractors earned the credential in 2021.

“We are proud to have had a presence in the AQC program for multiple years since the designation’s inception,” said Matt Hartzler, President & CEO. “This achievement is a testament to our employee’s commitment to serving our clients with honesty, integrity, accountability, and teamwork.”

Launched nearly 30 years ago, ABC’s AQC program provides recognition to world-class construction firms that have documented their commitment in five areas:

  • Quality
  • Safety performance
  • Talent management, and inclusion, diversity and equity
  • Craft and management education
  • Community relations

“Accredited Quality Contractors set the standard in the contracting community in safety, culture, workforce development, innovation, diversity and quality,” said 2022 ABC National Chair of the Board of Directors Stephanie Schmidt, president of Poole Anderson Construction, State College, Pennsylvania. “Congratulations to this high-performing construction company. Daily, the leaders and employees of Warfel Construction Company commit to the highest level of corporate and community achievement, exemplifying the best about ABC membership.”

In earning the AQC credential, each member company commits to world-class safety by achieving Gold, Platinum, or Diamond level in ABC’s STEP Safety Management System. Founded more than three decades ago, STEP dramatically improves safety performance among construction industry participants, with top performers achieving incident rates more than eight times safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics industry average.

Warfel Receives 10 Awards for Excellence from Associated Builders and Contractors

Earlier this month, several Warfel projects received Excellence in Construction awards from local Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) chapters. Six of the projects submitted received Excellence Awards (1st place in their category) and four projects received Merit Awards (2nd place in their category).

Pictured from left: Conlan Swope, Matt Hartzler, Aaron Moul, Sheila Snyder, Sean Cotter, Guy Kingree, Duane Troyer, Steve Davis, Rodney Severs, Rusty Hoffman, Jason Rineer, Tom Bortzfield, and Brett Calabretta.
Pictured from left: Jose Lopez, Matt Hartzler, Nick Ciarrocchi, Brad Shulenberger, Aaron Moul, Guy Kingree

Scroll down to learn more about this year’s award-winning projects.

Acadia Behavioral Health Hospital

A joint venture between Acadia Healthcare and Tower Health, this 91,000 sf, 144-bed facility provides a full spectrum of behavioral health services. The hospital includes inpatient adolescent, adult, and geriatric psychiatric care, including partial hos­pitalization, intensive outpatient program services, outpatient counseling, physician professional services and consultation, and chemical dependency treatment.

Numerous site conditions including rock, sink holes and unsuit­able soils created numerous challenges early on, however Warfel worked closely with the project owners and design consultants to minimize impact to the overall schedule.

Barclay Friends Preston Residence

Built to replace part of the campus that tragically burnt in 2017, the Preston Residence brings new life to the Barclay Friends community. This West Chester campus addition is de­signed to look like a group of townhouses, complimenting the residential neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

Encompassing significant sitework, this campus addition in­cluded complicated building tie-ins, advanced MEP systems, and high-end finishes throughout the building, all while main­taining existing operations. Exterior gardens and seating areas provide residents with access to controlled and beautifully landscaped outdoor spaces.

Kendal Crosslands – Café Renovation

The Kendal Crossland Café Renovation consisted of the renovation of an existing dining room and café. Upgrades were installed in the dining room to the walls and flooring, unique trellis and chandelier lighting, an electric fireplace, and sound attenuation panels. The café was completely renovated with all new high end kitchen equipment, tile flooring and walls, new storefront entryway with pocket door, and a hearth pizza oven.

Masonic Village Grand Lodge Window Restoration

A center point of campus life, the Abraham C. Triechler Lodge on Masonic Village’s campus required a creative restoration process to remediate moisture infiltration, as well as provide aesthetic upgrade. Our client had originally priced the project through an engineering firm which quoted the price at more than $5 million, well over the client’s budget for this restoration process.

Through a lengthy and creative preconstruction process, Warfel and RLPS Architects team members with many years of experience on the Masonic Village campus collaborated to create a simpler and more cost-effective process for the restoration efforts. These efforts resulted in substantial savings for the client, allowing the landmark building to be restored for generations of residents to come.

Masonic Village Lafayette Hills Renovation

The Masonic Village Lafayette Hill Renovation was broken up into two phases of construction, with Warfel being substantially complete at the end of January 2020. Phase 1 began in August 2019 and consisted of renovating their existing breakroom and creating a pub for the residents. It also included renovations to their main Dining Room, Bistro and Private Dining, along with corridor renovations. Upgrades to the Dining Room included a new front-of-house serving kitchen, with a new buffet style salad bar and serving line.

Phase 2 construction included renovations to the existing bowling alley, wellness center, main lobby, and apartment building corridors. Upgrades to the wellness center incorporated new pneumatic fitness equipment for residents, requiring floor trenching to run compressed air lines underneath each piece of equipment, providing a clean and safe finished product.

Penn Medicine/LGH 1097 Commercial Ave Renovations

The need for additional administrative space drove Penn Medicine to secure two new locations to house more than 400 employees in Lancaster, PA. One of the two buildings pro­cured, 1097 Commercial Ave, is very large but was vastly outdated for today’s class-A office space standards. Total renovated space between both buildings exceeded 200,000 sf. To create efficiencies in schedule and systems quality, Warfel initiated a design-assist approach on both projects for electrical and mechanical scopes of work.

Brackbill Boulevard Tenant Improvements

A massive warehouse renovation process, Warfel was contracted to prepare the existing facility for a new tenant. Initial drawings provided during the estimating phase were not accurate to the current warehouse condition, prompting Warfel’s team to work creatively to meet the agree-upon turnover date while replacing 37 overhead doors, deteriorating dock levelers, and coordinating a variety of site improvements.

With a contract awarded in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Warfel’s project management team coordinated the entire project remotely, relying on a single field-based team member for project documentation and trade partner coordination.

Centre Care Skilled Nursing Facility

This 240-bed facility consists of 66 private rooms and 87 semi-private rooms. The new, 2- and 3-story, 135,645 sf Centre Care facility consists of three main areas to serve patients: a high acuity area for patients with complex medical conditions, a memory care area, and another for short-term rehabilitation.

The new building includes enhanced food service areas in each separate area of the building. There is a chapel, multi-purpose room, large conference room, beauty/barber shop and spa area, as well as training and administrative areas. The new facility also includes a physical therapy area as well as a dialysis suite.

Concord Medical Office

This two-story, 30,000 sf medical office building is owned by Concord Health and operated by Tower Health and features spaces for consult, exams, group rooms, conference space, and a shell space for future fit out. The 88-acre site also houses an adjacent joint-venture behavioral health hospital. Both buildings were constructed concurrently.

Numerous site conditions including rock, sink holes and unsuit­able soils created numerous challenges early on, however Warfel worked closely with the project owners and design consultants to minimize impact to the overall schedule.

Penn Medicine/LGH Mill Renovations

The need for additional administrative space drove Penn Medicine to secure two new locations to house more than 400 employees in Lancaster, PA. One of the two buildings pro­cured, the Mill Building, is very large but was vastly outdated for today’s class-A office space standards. Total renovated space between both buildings exceeded 200,000 square feet. To create efficiencies in schedule and systems quality, Warfel initiated a design-assist approach on both projects for electrical and mechanical scopes of work.

Warfel Awarded Project of the Year for 101NQ

On Thursday, December 10, 101NQ was recognized as the Project of the Year by ABC Keystone at the organization’s annual Excellence in Construction awards ceremony. Project of the Year candidates are selected for a project’s subjective ‘WOW’ factor in the following areas (in no particular order):

  • Community impact
  • Client satisfaction
  • Design features
  • Positive notoriety or high-profile of the project

“It is a true testament to each team members’ ongoing commitment to our Clients For Life mission and our core values that we are able to celebrate another successful milestone in what continues to be a challenging year,” said Vice President Brett Calabretta. “It is an honor to see our team and our trade partners recognized by so many in our community for their continued dedication and hard work.”

101NQ

This extensive, block-altering redevelopment breathes new life into a formerly vacant four-story, 198,000 square foot windowless structure in the heart of downtown Lancaster. The building was in desperate need of a makeover to complement the surrounding neighborhood’s vibrant climate.

With the transformation of the Bulova Building to 101NQ, this project has completely changed the face of downtown Lancaster. The revitalized space brings news jobs and businesses into the city, driving the economic growth of Lancaster. Luxury condos provide additional housing, attracting new residents to Lancaster city.

Project Management team for 101NQ, l-r: Preconstruction Manager John Costalas, Project Engineer Rob Lenosky, Project Manager Dylan Keller, Senior Project Manager Robb Beiler, Project Executive Fred Lohss

Additionally, Warfel received Excellence and Merit awards for several projects from both ABC Keystone and ABC Eastern PA.

Excellence Awards

Eurofins Lancaster Labs Building M

The 188,000 sf Building M consists of class-A laboratory and office space above a ground-lev­el parking garage. Spaces are designed to accommodate large biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical lab areas, with offices and conference rooms.

A large-scale, technically challenging, and ever-changing project, Lancaster Labs tested the Warfel team to scale for project success. With advanced lab spaces and complex mechanical systems, the building required extensive planning, detailed management, and committed teamwork. An in-house MEP coordinator was instrumental in ensuring that the building’s complex systems were installed correctly.

Masonic Village Whisk Café

Located on the edge of Masonic Village at Elizabethtown’s cam­pus, the Whisk Cafe is in a restored commercial unit which the Warfel team converted into a unique, farm-to-table restaurant. Serving the Masonic Village and greater Elizabeth­town Community, the renovated space features more natural light, new MEP systems, and commercial kitchen equipment. Ex­tensive planning was required to keep the project on a tight schedule, and special care was taken to ensure utilities were ap­propriately coordinated in conjunction with another contractor working on Masonic Village’s busy campus.

Menno Haven Life Center

Several years ago, Menno Haven embarked on a master plan project to rejuvenate their campus, including a centrally-located resident life center. Residents had very little space on campus to socialize, and desired a location to meet with their friends, enjoy a variety of entertainment, and access special services.
The new, two-story Life Center provides amenities that residents previously lacked, including a salt room, movie theatre, beauty salon, massage rooms, outdoor putting green, and more. Specialty finishes installed throughout the building required extensive coordination and consultation with vendors to ensure that materials were installed correctly. Our team worked in close virtual partnership with the architect, based in Nebraska, to ensure that design standards were met.

LA Fitness Parking Lot Restoration

A creative restoration of a quickly-deteriorating parking lot, the LA Fitness Parking Lot Restoration required extensive planning to ensure that the gym could remain open while significant portions of its parking lot were renovated. During a multi-phased process, team members carefully evaluated existing conditions, used new construction methods to maintain costs, extensive safety measures to protect workers and nearby pedestrians, and communicated effectively to ensure LA Fitness’ business continuity.

Chatham Financial Building Renovation

Originally planned as a new building on Chatham Financial’s Kennett Square campus, this project was reimagined to re-purpose an existing vacant office building nearby. Through creative planning and close communication with stakeholders, the team transformed an outdated, 80s-era office space into a fresh, modern home for the growing financial services company.
The extensive interior renovation includes slab cuts in a second floor, integration of a large, eye catching staircase with new skylights above, advanced telecommunications and access control systems, special focus and conference room, and multiple break rooms and cafeteria spaces.

Merit Awards

SpiriTrust Lutheran Village at Luther Ridge

A Chambersburg, PA-based Life Plan Community, SpiriTrust Lutheran’s Village at Luther Ridge community provides care for all stages of senior living. To serve a rapidly growing community, the Village at Luther Ridge project encompassed a large addition to serve two skilled care neighborhoods and a rehab facility.
Built adjacent to existing buildings, the Luther Ridge addition required multiple tie-ins to allow residents to travel throughout the community more easily. Extensive planning was required to minimize disturbance to the community members, including coordination with utility companies to relocate existing systems that ran through the footprint of the new building. Additionally, winter weather made schedule adherence particularly challenging, as cold temperatures required additional measures to maintain the aggressive timeline.

Franklin & Marshall Summer Dormitory Renovations

Encompassing a total of six buildings, the scope of each renovation varied over each of the past five summers. Work ranged from extensive interior demolition and renovations to inside-the-box refresh of dorm rooms, corridors, bathroom stacks, HVAC systems, etc. Scope also included large-scale exterior renovations, such as roofing and new additions inclusive of elevators and stair towers.
Extremely important to student satisfaction, a main focus each summer included complete bathroom redesigns from traditional ‘gang’ hall baths to gender neutral common sink areas with private bath and shower rooms. Additionally, room upgrades focused on more efficient use of space with removal of unsightly MEP elements such as pipes, heating elements etc.

Acts Retirement Life Cokesbury Façade Renovation

Cokes­bury Village features a large apartment building that im­mediately faces the entrance to the community. Built several decades ago, the apartment building previously presented a stark, con­crete-heavy exterior.

Through an extensive façade restoration that encompassed updated plumbing and the installation of dividing walls, Warfel Construction worked with the community to make balconies safer for residents. The new balcony separation walls provide additional privacy and security for each resident, enhancing their quality of life and provided much-needed secure access to fresh air during our current environment.

Barclay Friends Preston Residence

Built to replace part of the campus that tragically burnt in 2017, the Preston Residence brings new life to the Barclay Friends community. This West Chester campus addition is designed to look like a group of townhouses, complimenting the residential neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

Encompassing significant site work, this campus addition included complicated building tie-ins, advanced MEP systems, and high-end finishes throughout the building, all while maintaining existing operations. Exterior gardens and seating areas provide residents with access to controlled outdoor spaces, while two new commercial kitchens offer a variety of healthy meals for residents and staff.

Warfel Construction Receives National Excellence in Construction Award From Associated Builders and Contractors

Associated Builders and Contractors today announced Warfel’s work on the Rydal Park Stream Restoration project in Jenkintown, PA has earned a national Excellence in Construction® Pyramid Award, which will be presented during ABC Convention 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, on Aug. 18. The EIC awards program is the industry’s leading competition that honors both general and specialty contractors for innovative and high-quality merit shop construction projects.

Located on an active Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) campus, the Rydal Park Stream Restoration project commenced primarily to stop significant erosion. The existing stream bank had eroded out, potentially risking the stability of high-usage walking trails that are frequently enjoyed by neighborhood residents. Through extensive preconstruction planning, careful site management, and detailed considerations of environmental impacts, our team reconstructed the existing stream, returning it to its natural state.

“The craftmanship of Warfel Construction and their hardworking employees continues to raise the bar when it comes to how we define excellence in construction,” said 2020 ABC National Chair Tim Keating, owner and president of R.C. Stevens Construction Co., Winter Garden, Florida. “It’s an honor to recognize these award winners for their respective commitments to building safely, on time and on budget, as well as contribute to the communities in which they work.”

The EIC award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect, and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety, and cost.

This year’s panel included representatives from Building Owners and Managers Association International, Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.

PeopleReady Skilled Trades is the presenting sponsor of the Excellence in Construction® Awards.

A full list of EIC winners is available on ABC’s website.

Warfel Recognized For Excellence at ABC Eastern PA, New Jersey Events

Earlier this month, several Warfel projects received Excellence in Construction awards from local Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) chapters. The Rydal Park Stream Restoration project won an Eagle from ABC East, while the Fiddler’s Elbow Kitchen Renovation and Masonic Village at Burlington Cottage Development both took home Eagles from ABC New Jersey.

Project Manager Casi Babinchak (center left) and Director of Facility Services Brad Shulenberger (right), accept the Excellence in Construction award for the Rydal Stream Renovation project with members of Rydal’s team.

Scroll down to learn more about this year’s award-winning projects.

Rydal Park Stream Restoration

Located on an active senior care campus, the Rydal Park Stream project commenced to stop significant erosion. Through extensive preconstruction planning, careful site management, and considerations of environmental impacts, our team reconstructed the stream, returning it to its natural state.

 

Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club Kitchen Renovation

Fiddler’s Elbow’s rapid growth during the expansion of their golf facility required the organization to re-examine the functionality of some of their original buildings. The original club kitchen was bursting at the seams, with kitchen staff and servers utilizing all the available space to prepare, cook, and serve food. Minimal space even required a walk-in freezer unit to be located outside the building, where staff needed to access it regardless of the weather. With these considerations in mind, Fiddler’s Elbow knew that a kitchen expansion and renovation were necessary to serve their growing membership.

 

Masonic Village at Burlington Cottage Development

With both organizations tracing their roots back to the early 1900s, Masonic Village and Warfel Construction have built a longstanding relationship based on numerous successful past projects. As Masonic Village continues to grow, they looked for new and different ways to differentiate their community and better serve their residents. The Burlington development is among the first to offer specialty “age in place” upgrade features, allowing residents to chose to remain in their homes longer, before moving into Masonic Village’s continuum of care.

Warfel Receives National Excellence in Construction Award From Associated Builders and Contractors

Warfel Construction is pleased to announce that the Aerzen USA project in Coatesville, PA has earned a National Excellence in Construction® Pyramid Award from Associated Builders and Contractors. Vice President of Operations Conlan Swope and Project Executive Fred Lohss received the award March 27 during ABC’s 29th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards gala at ABC Convention 2019 in Long Beach, California.

https://www.warfelcc.com/author/amber-schnader/

The Aerzen USA Expansion project was comprised of a 22,000 square foot office and manufacturing addition. The office expansion included the construction of new private offices, work rooms, conference rooms, and a new kitchen and café area. Renovations were also completed in select areas of the existing office. The manufacturing and warehouse expansion included the erection of a 35’ high pre-engineered metal building with insulated roof and wall panels. In addition to the building construction, various site improvements including the construction of underground rain water tanks, a large landscape package, and a new pervious asphalt parking lot were completed.

Aerzen-National-Pyramid

Proven LEED strategies from the original building, such as geo-thermal heat pumps (8 wells) and earth tubes, were incorporated into the addition. New advances in enclosure technologies such as structural insulated panels (SIPS) and ZIP system sheathing, as well as an integrated water- and air-resistive barrier that delivers moisture and air protection in one system were also utilized.

“We are proud to honor Warfel Construction Company with a National Excellence in Construction® Pyramid Award,” said 2019 ABC National Chair Tony Rader, telecom vice president of National Roofing Partners, Coppell, Texas. “The Aerzen USA project shows not only the exceptional talent in our industry, but the overall commitment to building safely, on time and on budget. Warfel’s breadth of skills and craftmanship greatly benefits the merit shop construction industry.”

The Excellence in Construction awards program is the industry’s leading competition that honors both general and specialty contractors for innovative and high-quality merit shop construction projects. The award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries submitted from across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.

A panel of industry experts served as the competition’s judges. This year’s panel included representatives from the Building Owners and Managers Association International, the Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, the Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.

A full list of EIC winners is available on ABC’s website.

 

Hartz Promoted to Field Operations Manager

Warfel Construction Company is pleased to announce that Craig Hartz has been promoted to Field Operations Manager. In his new role, Hartz will lead Warfel’s Operations Team in hiring and resource planning, as well as spearhead new initiatives in standard operating procedures, training and development, and quality control enhancement.

Field-Operations-Manager-Craig-Hartz

A graduate of North Schuylkill School District in Ashland, PA, Hartz joined Warfel in 2001 as a Laborer and became a Foreman in 2010. Most recently, he was promoted to Superintendent in 2015. He has worked on an extensive list of award-winning projects throughout his time with Warfel, including the $2.1 million Georgelis Law Firm office, which received national recognition from Associated Builder and Contractors in 2015.

“Craig’s ability to lead outwardly, his field knowledge, and focus on serving teams through his tenure have positioned him to be well suited for this new position,” said Conlan Swope, Vice President of Operations. “Craig will play a significant role in hiring and development of Field Operations and providing greater clarity to refined processes and procedures of doing things the Warfel Way. All of these items will complement our ability to better service our customers and create more Clients for Life.”

Field-Operations-Manager-Craig-Hartz

Hartz lives in Strasburg with his wife Alicia and son Bryce.

November 12-18 is National Apprenticeship Week

During National Apprenticeship Week, we are excited to feature some of our talented apprentices who are working toward becoming the next generation of skilled carpenters at Warfel Construction.

Apprentices-Lefever-Thomas
Apprentices Ben Lefever and Brandon Thomas are in their second year of the Apprenticeship Program. Ben and Brandon installed the feature wall behind them at the new Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital.

Warfel apprentices are trained through a combination of ABC Keystone’s Apprenticeship Program and structured-on-the-job training. Apprentices work on multiple projects over the course of their four-year training program. They work under the supervision of an experienced crafts person while working for Warfel Construction. They receive comprehensive training over the tenure of their study—offering the best, most effective way for us to ensure a highly trained and successful workforce. All of these things combined make ABC Keystone one of the very best trade schools in Pennsylvania.

Matthew-Leibhart-Carpentry
Matt Leibhart (second from left) was a top scorer in ABC Keystone’s Craft Competition in October. He will represent ABC Keystone Chapter and Warfel at the National Craft Competition in March 2019.

Interested in Warfel’s Apprenticeship Program or in other career opportunities? Learn more and apply through our Careers page here.

Warfel Receives Five Excellence in Construction Awards from ABC Keystone

Warfel Construction is proud to share that six projects were recognized at the 2018 ABC Keystone Excellence in Construction gala. Five of the projects received the coveted Eagle Award, the top prize for excellence in each category. Scroll down to learn more about this year’s top projects!

Acts-Granite-Farms-Interior-4

Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Granite Farms Estates Building E Renovations

Excellence Award Winner, Category A-6D: Residential Multi-Unit Renovation

Nearly a year in preconstruction, this project encompassed the complete interior and exterior renovations of a mid-1980s senior residence, creating state-of-the-art, neighborhood-style assisted living on the first two floors and 20 lux­ury, custom independent living apartments on the upper two floors. With only the shell of the four-story building standing, Warfel shored multiple areas throughout, supporting the existing structure before new members were installed and others removed to create an open, more contemporary floor plan within the 85,000 square foot facility.

Aerzen

Aerzen USA Expansion

Excellence Award Winner, Category A-1: Commercial $2-10 Million

A 21,000 square foot addition to its Coatesville, headquarters, the Aerzen USA expansion included office, manufacturing and warehouse space designed to accommodate the company’s expanding product range. Originally built to LEED Gold standards, the expansion included an upgraded and expanded geothermal system. Tight site restrictions created logistical challenges and required critical planning to complete the building construction without damaging the geothermal well field, four large underground storm-water R-Tank systems and two bio-retention basins, all of which had to be completed prior to the actual construction.

Foulkeways at Gwynedd Abington House North Addition

Excellence Award Winner, Category A-6B: Residential New Multi Family

This three-story 60,000 square foot addition, tightly nestled within the heart of the existing senior care community, is comprised of 30-units, offering home-like, personal care suites. During the nearly year-long preconstruction process, a great deal of time and effort was spent on site logistics, and determining the best approach to erecting the building while minimizing disruptions to ongoing operations in the adjoining building and throughout the campus. Five small renovations within the adjoining structure, totaling over 10,000 square feet, were also completed.

Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Headquarters Building Renovations

Excellence Award Winner, Category A-5: Renovation Over $5 Million

Extensive renovations to a 30,000 square foot building created a new headquarters for the Lancaster Chamber that functions as a contemporary, multi-functional community hub. This major design-build project in an urban setting required creative logistical planning, complete interior and exterior building upgrades, façade removal and reconstruction, and coordination with local government entities to maintain pedestrian and vehicular traffic without interruption. The modern design with references to Lancaster’s history respects the city’s past, while signaling that the Chamber is looking forward as an organization.

Lancaster Catholic High School New Stadium Complex

Excellence Winner, Category N-1: Miscellaneous/Special Projects

Initially conceived simply as a new turf field and upgraded lighting, this project eventually resulted in the complete demolition and reconstruction of the entire 1950’s era stadium complex, and rotating the football field 180 degrees to a north/south orientation to provide better sight-lines for the players.  Schedule challenges including unsuitable soils, extreme wet weather and sinkholes threatened the fast-track, short-term project, but creative adjustments and plain old hard work ensured a ‘Field of Dreams’ completion for the first home game of the season.

Mennonite Home Communities Woodcrest Villa Bluebird Wing Renovations

Merit Winner, Category A-5: Renovation $1-5 Million

Sequenced in three phases in an effort to keep food service areas open throughout the duration of construction, this reno­vation project posed many challenges to achieving the owner’s fast-track schedule. Warfel devised creative ways to maintain progress despite the many long-lead items and unexpected structural modifications. Altering the sequence of work proved an effective solution in keeping job progress moving. Communication and constant coordination with the trade-contractor team was key in maintaining this flip-flop schedule.

Warfel Wins Two National Awards from Associated Builders and Contractors

Warfel Construction Company today announced that its work on the Hess Bros. Fruit Company project in Lancaster, Pennsylvania has earned the company a first-place national Excellence in Construction® Eagle Award from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) in the Renovation $5-10 million category. Vice President of Operations Conlan Swope and Project Executive Guy Kingree accepted the award March 21 during ABC’s 28th annual Excellence in Construction awards celebration in Long Beach, California.

“Associated Builders and Contractors is proud to honor Warfel Construction with a best-in-class Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for their tremendous work in completing the Hess Bros. Fruit Company safely, on time and budget,” said 2018 ABC National Chair George R Nash Jr., director of preconstruction at Branch & Associates in Herndon, Va. “The dedication to innovation, productivity and world-class craftsmanship demonstrated by Warfel and its employees produced truly impressive results that any project owner would be proud of.”

A second generation family-owned business, Hess Bros. Fruit Company distributes over 20 varieties and 1.5 million bushels of local eastern apples a year. Hess Bros. specializes in the sourcing and wholesale of premium apples which are purchased through a network of hand-picked orchards. The apples are then distributed to a wide-range of markets including grocery stores, retail outlets, and restaurants.

Conveniently located along Manheim Pike in Lancaster, and home to a former molding and millwork company, Warfel’s task was to completely transform this manufacturing space into a fully functional distribution center housing dry and cold storage, packing and production lines, shipping and office areas.

The Excellence in Construction awards program is the industry’s leading competition, developed to honor innovative and high-quality merit shop construction projects, with an Eagle Award presented to the top project in each category. The award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries submitted from across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.

Warfel also received a Pyramid Award, the second-highest honor, for the Water Street Mission renovation project in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Originally a six-week schedule that was condensed to just one week, this high-profile project consisted of the total renovation of the Water Street Mission dining hall and kitchen. Crews worked 24/7 for the duration of the project. The team completely gutted the interior of the building, then installed all new food service equipment, vibrant finishes and all-new mechanical systems. Workers completed the project a full 24 hours ahead of schedule.

A panel of industry experts served as the competition’s judges. This year’s panel included representatives from the Building Owners and Managers Association International, the Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, the Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 that represents more than 21,000 members. Founded on the merit shop philosophy, ABC and its 70 chapters help members develop people, win work and deliver that work safely, ethically and profitably for the betterment of the communities in which ABC and its members work. Visit ABC online here.