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Austintown racino construction continues on schedule
Photo
Two excavators work the racetrack, moving dirt from one side of the complex to the other, as Hollywood Slots at Mahoning Valley Race Course begins to take shape. Concrete footers should be started by the end of the week.
By Kalea Hall
Austintown
Construction on the township’s $125 million thoroughbred racetrack is right on schedule, despite the excessive rain the area has had, according to Turner Construction Co. of Cleveland, which is managing the project.
This week, the concrete footers for the foundation will be poured, beginning the foundation construction. Michael Coates Construction of Niles is working on the concrete aspect of the project.
Before the foundation could be started, the topsoil had to be removed.
“We have been moving 15,000 cubic feet of [topsoil] a day,” said Randy Painter, project executive for Turner Construction.
All aspects to the 190-acre project site, including the main building, the racetrack, 12 horse barns and seven other buildings, are being worked on.
“We are trying to do all of the activities concurrently so they all finish on schedule, so it is a bunch of projects at one time here,” Painter said.
The foundation is considered the “most critical” part of the construction, Area Superintendent Rick Collins of Turner Construction said. After the foundation is completed, the next phase will be the structural steel, which should begin in September. Next, the exterior walls will be worked on, and then the roof will be added, and hopefully by January the interior walls will be constructed.
“The biggest thing is to get the building in shape so we can do the interior work [and] to have it enclosed by the end of December,” Painter said.
To use the “spray-on fireproof” on the structural steel, the area must be dry.
“If there is ever a fire in the building [the spray-on fireproof] prevents the building from losing structural integrity for a couple of hours,” Painter said.
Throughout the construction process, even at the beginning stages, the materials on site, including the topsoil and rock, will be reused for landscaping, and the sandstone is being ground up and will be used to fill retaining walls.
“Nothing gets hauled off of the site,” Painter said.
Outside of reusing soil and rock, using local contractors on the job also is a goal. Adolph Johnson and Son Co. is another local company from Youngstown working on the buildings.
“There are a lot of different types of construction involved on this project,” Collins said. “So there will definitely be a lot of talent on this job.”
The past weeks of heavy rainfall did put a damper in the construction, but the anticipated opening of late summer, early fall 2014 still is expected.
“The excessive amount of rain has made it challenging to get it done on time, but we increased the amount of equipment and worked some Saturdays to get it done on schedule,” Painter said.
Jim Davis, township trustee chairman, said the progress being made just brings the ultimate goal of bringing more jobs to the valley even closer, as well as additional money to the township.
“To me it is exciting anytime there is progress made over there,” Davis said.