October 27, 2011 – 7:03 am
From Deadwood we traveled to Rapid City. What a lovely city! It has a nice downtown are that is vibrant and full of shops,
restaurants and all sorts of venues. There are many historic buildings in this city too. They vary from Italianette architecture to basic, solid 1920′s brick storefronts, to more contemporary buildings. I especially like the adaptive reuse of their downtown fire hall into a restaurant.
Rapid City is know as the ‘City of Presidents’ . This is because they have life sized bronze statues of each of our Presidents on downtown corners. It is fun to walk around and view this artwork. I’m shown here with Ronald Reagan. The statues were all created with private funds.
Of course, no trip to South Dakota is complete without a stop at Mount Rushmore. We had absolutely perfect weather to see this magnificant
carving, as well as the Crazy Horse carving. Both of these boggle the mind as how to accomplish such enormous carving jobs. The interpretive centers at both locations are very good, giving a fine feeling for what a job it is to accomplish this work. The walk down the avenue of state flags leading to Mt. Rushmore is a beautiful walk. The Crazy Horse Memorial has the face completed and much of the extended arm, but many, many more tons of rock still need to be removed.
On the way home we stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest stop at Chamberlain where we crossed the Missouri River. This is a
wide, powerful river. The rest stop had an interperative center that told stories of the Lewis and Clark expedition into this area. And of course, we had to stop at the corn palace in Mitchell to see the current version of the corn palace. It is really remarkable artwork to see the pictures that they make with varieties of corn.
Lots to see and do in South Dakota!
October 26, 2011 – 5:37 am
We are working on some maintenance and repairs for a rural client. The work involves a variety of tasks….removing and
replacing some exterior concrete walks and drives, replacing windows and a door, etc. We used the good weather last week to attend to much of the exterior concrete work. Most of the concrete is exposed aggregate. We laid the concrete and finished it. We then cut control joints and yesterday washed it with acid to clean the surface. Once it is dry we apply a clear sealer to seal the surface. Before we could install these walks and patio we had to construct retaining walls to hold soils in place.
October 24, 2011 – 5:59 am
Ellen and I took a few days vacation last week and headed to our neighbor to the west, South Dakota. We had not done
much ‘exploring’ in that state, mainly just passing through it on the way to somewher else. This time we wanted to visit and see parts of the state. Our first visit was to Pierre to see the state capitol. Having spend several years working in Minnesota’s capitol when I was a State Representative, I really like to visit capitols and see how they work in other states. South Dakota has a gorgeous 101 year old capitol building. It is constructed of several types of stone, including white marble, Indiana limestone and native granite material. The very large rotunda is 96′ high from the main floor. But 
what is truly amazing is the capitol grounds. The area surrounding the capitol building is lush and planted with trees, shrubs and flowers. Every tree has a nice permanent sign identifying the type of tree. Just to the east of the capitol
building is a small man-made lake with park area around it. It is an idyllic setting and one all South Dakotans should be proud of. On the shore of the lake is a monument to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who have served in our military branches. The life size statues honor each branch of the military.
From Pierre we continued west on highway 14 through central South Dakota. Highway 14 is not a freeway road (I like to take ‘blue highways’ when we travel) but it, like every South Dakota road we traveled on, was in excellent condition. I’m not sure if the good roads is related to having less than a million people in the state, or
is reflective of an adequate transportation budget, but South Dakota has to be commended for the quality of their roads. We arrived in Deadwood for the night. Deadwood is a town that almost became a ghost town in the 1970′s. It is off the highways and in the Black Hills, jammed in between hills as narrow as 300 yards in some places. Infrastructure and buildings were decaying and the town was dying. City 
leaders came up with a plan to ask the legislature to approve limited gambling, with a big share of the stake going to the city to rebuilt itself. The legislature approved that in 1989 and it paid off hugely. Millions and millions of dollars have been generated to fund all types of repairs. And the city is busy with tourism now, generating strong economic dollars. We checked into the historic Bullock Hotel right on main street and enjoyed our visit. Deadwood had several fires in the late 1800′s and as a result, all downtown buildings were required to be rebuilt of
brick or stone. The town is filled with historical buildings. There is a 1930′s gas station that reflects the Art Deco style. It has been turned into a restaurant—Mustand Sally’s— with good food and atmosphere. 
This is the town where Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down in the #10 Saloon, marking a piece of Western history.
I’ll post more later.
October 13, 2011 – 8:14 am
We are working hard at finishing up the interior work for the ArTech Charter School expansion in Northfield. The steel wall
framing was completed earlier this month. We followed up by installing sound insulation and drywall surfaces. The drywall finishers completed their work, and the painters moved in right behind them. The new classrooms are a bright yellow color which is very lively with the light streaming in through the windows. We only have to finish the walls up to the height of the suspended ceilings that will be installed shortly.
The mechanical system ductwork and piping has also been completed.
October 11, 2011 – 2:07 pm
We moved on to the building portion of our East side Northfield renovation project. The first task was to remove all the
trims and save them for reuse. We then removed the finish wall and ceiling surfaces, and the little bit of insulation that was in used. One of the main focuses of this project is to increase the insulation levels in the attic area. The framing actually allows for a good level of insulation at the ‘rafter heel’, about 11″. So once that is installed and ventilation is added, the room should function properly. We did uncover some rather unique framing at the walls, but nothing that we can’t deal with.
October 6, 2011 – 12:37 pm
The weather has been perfect for finishing outside work at our rural new home project. The siding was completed and the
painters have been busy painting the exterior. The owners selected a very rural theme for the house and outbuilding….barn red with white trim. With the board and batten style siding I think the buildings fit really well into our countryside. With the soybean crop in front of the buildings it looks like it could be an old farmstead.
Interior work has been progressing as well. The red oak flooring is being installed and finished on site. I like the looks and durability of site finished flooring like this. When sanded the floor is totally smooth and flat. With three coats of floor finish the finish is very tough and will hold up to years of service. Then, if it does need refinishing, it is easy to screen or sand and recoat.
While the flooring is being installed the carpenters are working on the stairways. Both the upper and lower stairs are red
oak to match the floors. There are railings with a newel post at the base. In keeping with the simplicity of the home, the balusters and newels are square materials. The same simplicity holds true for our door and window trim. We are using a heavy oak casing at the head and sill, extending it about an inch past the side casings. The side casings are not as thick as the head casing which creates a pleasant appearance as the two wood trims butt together.
October 4, 2011 – 5:28 am
We started work on a small residential remodeling project on the East side of Northfield last week. It involves removing
the existing driveway, patio and related surfaces and installing new surfaces. With the fall weather—and all the falling leaves— on its way I wanted to get the exterior concrete work completed right away so it could cure properly before winter. Our first task was to remove the existing driveway. We then hauled in appropriate base material. Then the new concrete was laid and finished. The new driveway and patio are a great improvement when compared to the existing asphalt covered concrete driveway. Snow removal off this surface will be much easier than the old surface. We will soon start the building remodeling work.
October 3, 2011 – 6:05 am
Sunday was a glorious day in Minnesota. Ellen and I decided to spend most of it at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum west of Minneapolis. We
enjoy visiting the Arboretum in the early fall. This visit was perfect in that there were still many annuals and perennials blooming, and of course the fall leaves were turning. The first thing that greets you as you enter the gardens is a huge stick and vine structure. It is massive and you can walk inside it. You can imagine the fun little children have playing in it.
At this time of the year the Arboretum also has a lot of scarecrows scattered around the grounds. Some are made by Arboretum staff, others are designed and made by firms that support the gardens. There are some very, very creative creatures. Again, lots of things for children to enjoy.
Of note this season are giant steel sculptures of roots. They are placed all over the grounds and are varying sizes,
shapes and colors. I can see why the artist is taken with roots of trees and plants. There is something powerful in looking at the shapes and sizes of roots. These steel root shapes are remarkable. I cannot imagine the work that was involved in bringing these big sculptures into the Arboretum, and then in a few months, bringing them back out to move to another venue.
One of the things I always enjoy seeing is the interior of the main building at the Arboretum. Most of the interior trim appears to be clear Douglas Fir. That is a beautiful wood and makes excellent beams as well as standing and running trim for doors, windows and baseboards. The main atrium of the building has a vaulted ceiling with heavy timber beam trusses. The way the light plays on the trusses and the geometric patterns is very interesting.
If you are looking for a fun fall activity, put the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on your list of things to do! 
September 30, 2011 – 5:38 am
From time to time we have to extend or replace utility services to a building which may require excavation in the public street right-of-way. Working in the streets brings its own challenges, typically getting the proper permits, inspections, etc to complete the job as planned. The jurisdictions are generally very good about identifying and locating any underground utilities so that the work can avoid disruption to those existing utilities.
Earlier this year my older brother that lives in Brooklyn, New York had to replace the sewer line to his home. His contractor was familiar with doing such work and everything went as planned. But one thing they had to deal with was a 68″ sanitary sewer pipe! It is hard to see in this photograph, but what appears to be a lump of soil at the top end of the trench, right around the workers feet, is the 68″ diameter sewer pipe. There were other smaller pipes to excavate around, as well as various gas and communication conduits. The excavation has been cribbed and braced for the workers safety. But no matter what you do to the trench, it is a lot of work to excavate under a 68″ sewer pipe to install the new utility line.
Seeing this type of construction makes me realize how difficult it is to coordinate and perform construction projects in dense urban cities. There is no room for staging or storing materials. People need access to areas at all times. And above all, you don’t really know what you will find in streets that have been in place for 200 years.
Yesterday afternoon Neuger Communications hosted an open house for the community. They gave everyone an opportunity to view the remodeling project we completed for them over the summer. This project was a wonderful adaptive reuse of an existing building in downtown Northfield. The building was originally constructed in 1966 as a bank and served that purpose until a few years ago. No one likes to see an empty building downtown, especially on this prominent corner. So all were pleased when Dave Neuger announced his plans to renovate the building and relocate his business there. We accomplished a lot of work in a tight time frame, everything from a new roof to right on down to all new interior walls and flooring.
