Project Profile: Boys and Girls Club of Washington County

Built with a limited budget and a moderate footprint, the Boys and Girls Club of Washington County appears poised to have an outsized impact on its community.

Oak Contracting served as construction manager at risk for the development of the 29,240-square-foot facility in Hagerstown. The project design combined a pre-engineered metal structure which would house the center’s gymnasium, with a steel frame and masonry structure which would house the center’s offices, community spaces, a science and technology laboratory, art studio, gaming room and physical fitness room.

“We don’t see a lot of metal buildings in our projects, but economically that’s what worked for this project,” said David Toth, Vice President of Oak Contracting.

Precisely and efficiently combining those two structures required close coordination among the separate subcontractors who were responsible for both building structures and the foundations.

“The metal building had to sit on top of a masonry wall which was built by a different contractor,” Toth said. “We had to get exact submittals on the pre-engineered building and work off of them so the concrete subcontractor could get all the footings, anchor bolts and everything in the right place.”

The site, which had previously housed the former Boys and Girls Club as well as a gas station and some residences, presented other challenges. Rock and assorted underground structures — gas tanks, house foundations and at least one unidentified structure — were encountered and had to be dealt with. An adjacent and busy rail line restricted activity along one edge of the site and cut off access to the construction site several times a day as long trains rolled through.

The project team also had to adjust plans to contend with supply chain challenges and budget constraints.

“One supply chain issue involved the roof. The material was a white, light-reflective rubber roof that was on back order from the factory,” Toth said. “We discussed options with the owner and decided to go with a black rubber roofing. It was not light-reflective and could change the heat gain, so we had to make sure the insulation on the roof was sufficient and the change in roof material wouldn’t affect any performance requirements of the building systems.”

Oak and the subcontractors helped contain costs by value engineering some aspects of the project, such as the lighting package and flooring options. One subcontractor donated $35,000 back to the client and Oak donated its pre-construction services.

Ultimately, Oak was able to return 80 percent of the project’s contingency funds back to the client.

“We understood the owner’s challenges and I think we were good stewards of their money through the whole process,” Toth said.

The project team also succeeded in delivering important design details, such as the multi-colored paint pattern on the gymnasium walls and integrated metal panels on the facade, said Heath Shultz, Oak’s superintendent on the project. Careful coordination of subcontractors also ensured that crews could work around train blockages, avoid disruptions to the surrounding residential community and complete work on schedule, Shultz said.

The most impressive aspect of the project, however, was its impact on the community, said Sara Allentoff, Assistant Project Manager.

“We were invited to the ribbon cutting and the love you felt from the community was unreal,” Allentoff said. “We had people come up to us who were members 50 years ago and they still live in the area. They told us the club saved them. It was exciting to see this community get a facility that is so needed.”