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p a c i f i c - m o u n ta i n c o n t r a c t o r s – p e p p e r m i l l r e n o e x p a n s i o n
The project is revenue driven, he
explains. The construction for the event
center began in November 2006, and
the owner booked Willie Nelson on Dec.
1, 2007, as well as scheduled Christmas
parties throughout the month. “We met
our deadline by having overtime and
late shifts,” he explains.
Subcontractors included Nelson
Electric, Intermountain Electric, RHP
Mechanical and Savage & Son. “They
understood that it is whatever it takes,
the date is the date,” Spampanato says.
“With a design/build philosophy, we
managed numerous design changes oc-
curred during construction,” he ex-
plains. “We just used creative coordina-
tion and [careful] sequencing of the work.
“With all the mechanical and electri-
cal changes, one of our challenges was
installation on the fly. We had to keep
the project moving forward while trying
to understand what the designers would
be doing while anticipating what the
owners would want.”
Another construction challenge was
that the existing casino and pool deck
were operational during construction.
In many cases, the construction was
performed within feet of the hotel and
casino guests. The company planned
accordingly so that Peppermill could be
kept operational, Spampanato says.
‘Outside the Box’
The expansion was constructed on a
very tight site, Spampanato says, so the
company had to “think outside the box”
to adapt to the conditions. For example,
it made holes in some of the buildings
during construction so that fire trucks
would be able to travel through them.
profile
The project accessways and work
areas were tightly packed with con-
struction vehicles, materials and work-
ers, he adds. “This could have made res-
cue and fire operations difficult had
PMC not come up with a creative solu-
tion that would not only ensure jobsite
safety, but also satisfy city of Reno
emergency codes,” he says.
The spa redesign was the most diffi-
cult, especially around Memorial Day
and the Fourth of July when the pool
decks, open and located nearby, were
full of guests. “We had to maintain the
schedule through a lot of unknowns,”
such as the number of patrons in that
time period, weather changes, area
usability for special events and ensuring
job site and guest safety,” he says. “We
had to knuckle down and keep pursuing
because that’s what we do.” x
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