July 2017
The Inside Corner
ONE HILL SOUTH
Nationals Park has sparked amazing development along the M Street SE corridor, an area of Washington which had been neglected in the past. This has now become a vibrant area of office buildings, restaurants, hotels and upscale condo and apartment buildings. The latest addition to this area is 909 Half Street, SE, now known as One Hill South. Located just off South Capitol Street and a few blocks from Nationals Park, this prime location has a spectacular view of the Capitol and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.
This is a new 580,000 SF 13 story, highend residential apartment building with 13,000 SF of ground floor retail and three levels of below grade parking. There are 383 residential units, a basketball court, yoga studio, fitness center, three green roof areas, hot tubs and a rooftop pool! On the second floor there is a large lounge area, gallery, study with conference rooms, billiards room and lounge, party lounge, dining area and kids play room. The structure consists of post-tensioned cast-in place concrete and the façade is a one-of-a-kind, custom curtainwall system.
This was a fast-paced project where construction started with the residential units on the second floor and worked up to the thirteenth floor. The work at the amenity areas on the first and second floors and roof were worked on simultaneously. As work was progressing, changes were made by the owner up until the end. These changes often involved reworking an area that had already been completed or was nearing completion, requiring the job site team to make adjustments while still maintaining HITT Contracting’s fast-paced schedule. Job site coordination from our field supervision was the key to providing a quality product while maintaining a high level of productivity. C. J. Coakley Co., Inc. had over 100 people on the project performing all phases of work when running at top speed. Even as work was being completed on the upper levels, units on the lower levels had been rented and were occupied, indicating the desirability of this once sparsely populated neighborhood.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY HVAC RENOVATIONS HALLS 2-6
C. J. Coakley Co., Inc. has just completed the drywall and acoustical ceiling work in Halls 2 through 6 at the National Museum of Natural History as part of a five year renovation by Grunley Construction which included modernization of 65,000 SF of mechanical and electrical systems. These are the halls that house the dinosaur and fossil exhibits. It is the first time since the museum opened in 1910 that these five halls have been renovated all together and the first time any one hall has been renovated since the early 1980s. This work will result in a total of 31,000 SF of completely demolished and updated exhibit space when it reopens in 2019. While the work was taking place the balance of the space in the museum stayed open.
The scope of work on this project contained several challenges. One was the extensive network of temporary fire rated platforms and partitions required during all phases, including spaces not visible to the public. C. J. Coakley Co., Inc. also provided the structural framing for a large exhibit platform in Halls 2 and 5 which included low walls, ramps and stairs. There were many bulkheads which often surrounded or intersected a variety of ceiling types at odd angles, radiuses and differing elevations. One of the highlights of the space when it reopens will be the completely renovated FossiLab in Hall 6 where visitors can observe museum staff working with fossils.
Dave Jordan and Orlando Rivera should be commended for a job well done.
REMEMBERING THOMAS DUNN
Thomas entered the workforce in 1943 and for over twenty years prior to coming to work for us had many jobs. He worked at dock yards, for the railroads, and as a construction laborer. While working for Rubino and Farris he met Connie Coakley and a friendship was made that lasted until the day my father died in 1998. When my father started his business one of the first employees he wanted to hire was Thomas. Although he had many jobs at C. J. Coakley Co., Inc., he never needed another employer. He worked for us for over thirty years. Thomas was a great employee and a wonderful man with an infectious positive attitude. He was always ready to shake your hand and tell you a story about C J Coakley or the Redskins.
Working at C J Coakley Co., Inc. was not just a job to Thomas. The company was important to him and he took ownership of everything he did. A scaffold built by Thomas was Mr. Dunn’s scaffold. When Thomas took a truck from the yard, it was Thomas’s truck. When we opened our Northeast Yard it was very quickly referred to as Mr. Dunn’s yard. Thomas hated it when people took for granted what things cost. If he came to a jobsite and found half of a box of screws laying around, he would find the foreman and let him know how much a box of screws cost. He would then ask them if that much money was laying on the ground would you just leave it there? Employees that take ownership in a company can be rare, but at C. J. Coakley Co., Inc we have many. People like Thomas created that culture at our company and we are very fortunate to have had him for so long.
My father and Thomas had a great passion for the Redskins. No conversation was complete for the two of them unless they discussed current gossip about the team. I will end with a classic Thomas Dunn Redskins story. Chip Lohmiller was the kicker for the Redskins. He was having a little trouble making field goals during the season. Thomas called my dad and told him he had noticed that Chip was missing the field goals about 2 feet to the left. Right before he went out to kick his next field goal, Thomas got up and moved his TV set two feet to the left, and the ball went straight on through. Little did Mr. Lohmiller realize that Thomas had saved his career. Thomas was a great worker and a dear friend to our family. We know he is in heaven with Connie and they are probably looking for something to build!
EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
Each month our Foremen recommend to our Superintendents employees they feel have made outstanding efforts that contribute to our company’s success. The Employees of the Month are recognized in this newsletter and at one tool box talk each month across the company. We appreciate the hard work each employee puts forth to make the company successful, and we are proud to honor those who are selected.
March
Teodolinda Martinez - Laborer
Teddy Mouzon - Warehouse
April
Miguel Neri - Carpenter
Fermin Urrutia - Carpenter
May
Reynaldo Navarro - Carpenter
Milton Cabrera - Finisher
EMPLOYEE NEWS
We would like to welcome Lela Bruner who started in January as our Payroll Accountant and Ashley Lambdin who is our new Property Manager. We also have three interns this summer - Conor O’Leary and Raul Medina work in the office helping the project managers and estimators and Neil Coakley is working in the warehouse.
Mark your calendar for the Safety and Employee Appreciation Picnic which will be held on September 23, 2017. Last year we had beautiful weather and a great turnout! We will be at the same location and hope to see everyone there again this year.
This newsletter is published by the management of C. J. Coakley Co., Inc. to inform our employees about important developments in our company. We reserve the sole discretion to exercise editorial control over this publication and the contents should not be reprinted without our permission.
