Carson Valley Swim Center Locker Room Improvements

The Carson Valley Swim Center (CVSC) is a remarkable and central amenity in the lives of Carson Valley residents ranging in ages from 1 to 100. Businesses and private citizens rely on the pool for many different things including employment, therapy, fun, training, and a safe place to gather. It was very critical to the people of Carson Valley that the pool operations not be interrupted by construction, an inherently disruptive undertaking.

Small projects are still important

Q&D was selected to be the CM-at-Risk contractor for this project based on the team’s qualifications. One of a number of larger builders in the region, we are often assumed to be only interested in “large projects.” But we have built ongoing relationships with many organizations in the northern Nevada region who rely on Q&D to put the same energy and detailed approach into every project, large or small.

Precon team included construction staff

Preconstruction began in May of 2018 alongside the design team led by tsk Architects. Having the Q&D field management team directly involved in the preconstruction helped streamline the project delivery. In this case the team arranged to reduce the construction schedule by 2 months while still keeping the pool open for business at all times, mainly by using metal studs in lieu of concrete masonry units (CMU) where it would not reduce quality or maintainability. This way the work could be scheduled for fall/winter, when the facility would be less busy, and still be completed by the client’s end date.

On budget

The client’s budget for the project was $700,000. The final contract amount was just a few thousand under that, reflecting a project which put in place the work requested for the best possible value. Value engineering solutions included substituting metal-stud-drywall walls for some new CMU locations as noted above. Another was to swap large-format ceramic tile for planned phenolic wall panels, which netted a large cost savings.

Temporary facilities

As an integral part of the community, CVSC did not want to reduce their level of service during the construction period. To ensure that the CVSC could continue to operate unimpeded, the team provided a set of temporary locker rooms (these are pre-fabricated rental units on a trailer) which included heater showers, restrooms and changing rooms.

Open during construction

The CVSC had no interruptions during construction. Daily communication with the pool director, staff and the client’s representative helped ensure that CVSC leaders always knew what was coming up and had pre-arranged a work around with input from Q&D. There were no incidents during construction in spite of the work very close to the public.

“The swim center complimented the Q&D professionals on site on a regular basis and stated that they truly enjoyed working with them.”

– Shannon Harris, Director, Carson Valley Swim Center