ERMCO was recently recognized by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) with a 2019 NECA Project Excellence Award in the “Educational Over $1 Million” category for their work on the Indiana University Excellence Academy project.
The NECA Project Excellence Award was established to showcase the exceptional work being performed by its members throughout the country. ERMCO will be recognized along with this year’s other winners during NECA’s annual convention in Las Vegas on September 16.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY EXCELLENCE ACADEMY
The Indiana University Excellence Academy, housed in IU’s Memorial Stadium, is part of the university’s comprehensive approach to student athlete development, equipping student athletes for success in college and beyond.
A new front door for IU Athletics, a new scoreboard (possibly the largest in the Big Ten Conference), a new multipurpose event suite and terrace, and many new spaces for IU student athletes – these are all outcomes of the extensive project along IU Memorial Stadium’s south end zone completed August 2018.
The $53 million renovation encloses almost 67,000 square feet of Memorial Stadium’s south end zone and creates a new “front door” to the IU Athletics campus with Miller Plaza. Multi-function event space in the new President’s Suite and Sample Terrace along with the new high-tech Panasonic video scoreboard enhances the experience for fans on game day.
ORIGINALITY | INSPIRING EXCELLENCE
Much of the new facility is dedicated for use by the IU Excellence Academy. IU’s student athlete development program provides a unique, comprehensive approach that equips student athletes for success in and after college.
Designed and built with student athletes in mind, the Excellence Academy has a wellness center, center for elite athlete development and a rehabilitation and treatment center.
Spaces and equipment to help prevent, diagnose, rehabilitate and treat student athletes include physician offices, psychologist and nutritionist offices, exams rooms, diagnostic equipment, a hydrotherapy treatment room, a lap pool and an underwater treadmill. A new kitchen and dining center offer nutritious options. Additional spaces are dedicated to leadership development, service learning and career development.
AESTHETICS | DETAILED PREP WORK AND COORDINATION RESULT IN CLEAN, CONTEMPORARY LOOK
A variety of lighting fixtures inside and outside of the stadium’s south end zone add character to the interior spaces and a welcoming warmth to visitors as they approach the new south entrance. The finished look required detailed planning, coordination with other trades, precise layout and accurate installation on the first try since “re-dos” would not be possible.
Wood slats run up the stairwell wall from floor to floor and across the length of the dining room ceiling. Lighting fixtures peep through the slats at regular intervals. In addition, 60% of the new spaces have dry wall ceilings. The wood slats and the drywall would be damaged if lighting or wiring had to be redone after installation. So the ERMCO team prepared detailed work plans and made sure items were accurately laid out and installed correctly the first time, eliminating rework and costly damage.
The clean look of the lighting on the stadium’s exterior columns was achieved by mounting the fixtures on the columns and concealing the conduit inside the columns. This required detailed planning and coordination with the general contractor and the concrete contractor.
DIFFICULTY OF INSTALLATION | EVERYTHING IS CURVED
One of the project’s unique challenges was the shape of the building itself. Much of the conduit was required to be bent at varying angles to match the varying radii of the stadium’s curved walls. Knowing this would make assembling and installing a challenge, the ERMCO team placed as much conduit as possible under the slab and then used technology such as the Trimble Tool to accurately lay out and bend conduit either off-site in prefab or on site. With the result being all conduit installed accurately and on schedule.
ERMCO provided electrical and systems services in collaboration with general contractor Shiel Sexton. Services included electrical,fire alarm, door security, data, video board and sound system.Supporting the south and east sides of the stadium, a new, larger electrical room replaces a smaller one which was demoed as part of the south end zone addition and required moving high voltage and telecom systems from old to new.
Go to www.necanet.org/project-excellence to learn more about the NECA Project Excellence Awards.