Spooky Nook seeing delays because of March building collapse

Construction of the enormous Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill indoor sports complex is facing construction delays because of the March collapse of a building that will house an indoor soccer-sized field, owner Sam Beiler said Wednesday.

Beiler told the Journal-News delays to the facility’s opening can range from barely noticeable to more significant, depending on how much longer it takes for an insurance company that is investigating the collapse of “Building 500″ in high winds to allow the destroyed building to be carefully disassembled and replaced with a new one.

While Beiler hours after the March 26 collapse told the Hamilton Community Authority he did not expect significant issues with the schedule, he said Wednesday he had not anticipated it taking so long for the insurance company to finish its work. Building 500 is located at the far south end of the project west of B Street, so it’s not within the tangle of other buildings.

But still, he said, because the facility is interconnected, Building 500 is affecting construction of other parts of the facility.

“If it’s released to us shortly, then I don’t believe a delay will be noticed,” he said.

There also have been some delays because of material shortages, including insulation for buildings, he said. He noted delays can be made up by adding second shifts of construction workers.

“From March to June, the building remains as it stands,” Beiler said. “We finally received some communication from the insurance company the end of last week. At this point, we’ve lost about 90 days (on that building) with no progress. They continue to study the collapse to try to understand what caused it, or what allowed it.”

“We’re hopeful that within a week or 10 days we can begin the process of disassembly,” he said. “It’s not as easy as demo, where you knock things flatter and move them off. There’s a required process of disassembling the building because of the tension that’s on various pieces of steel that were not designed to be in the position they’re in now.”

The demolition will take weeks, and it will take several weeks for new steel to be delivered.

“At that point, we did not expect any delays on Mill One (the part located West of B Street),” Beiler said. “But 90 days later, it is creating a problem for us on Mill 1 in terms of schedule.”

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