Rainforest Exhibit is Getting a Facelift

Those of us who have visited the Topeka Zoological Park know about the Tropical Rainforest Exhibit. This 100 foot diameter acrylic dome, which has become a Topeka landmark, is very much in need of repair. Engineers who have studied this building have determined that the structure of the dome is actually in fine shape. However most of the existing acrylic lenses are original to the structure which was constructed in 1972. In general, the life expectancy for an acrylic skylight is approximately 20 years and these are approaching a service life of 40 years.

Help is on the way! KBS crews are now preparing to construct an addition to the rainforest connecting support facilities that will help preserve the animals and plants while work is completed on the dome and inside the exhibit. Plans for the upgrade include, replacing the sprinkler & irrigation system, as well as every one of the acrylic lenses in the dome, including new seals and gaskets. This is an exciting project for us for most of our employees have visited this facility before as children and we appreciate the opportunity to help preserve this exhibit for our children and grandchildren to enjoy as well. Working around these wild animals is pretty challenging work, but for us it is routine Critical Environment Construction. Follow our progress on this project on Facebook where we will continually post new progress photos. To see the latest go to: KBS Constructors Facebook Page.

Bowyer Building - November Progress

The Bowyer Community Building in Emporia is showing great progress through November. Crews are working on exterior siding and trim, anticipating the arrival of cold weather. Soon the building will be enclosed so interior finishes can be completed. We anticipate completion of the building sometime after the first of the year.  A complete set of November progress photos have been uploaded to our Facebook page, KBS Constructors.

Announcing Splatfest 2

KBS is organizing a paint ball tournament

To Raise money to benefit Victory Junction Midwest. Victory Junction is a camp that provides life changing experiences for kids with chronic medical conditions/serious illnesses.

Paint Ball Tournament (Bring your own gear)

Saturday, October 1^st (Registration deadline is Sept. 24^th)

Cokeley Farms Hunting Preserve and Sporting Clays, Delia

Starts at 12:00 pm

5-Man Teams @ $20 per man = $100 per team

CONTACT INFO…..Kerry Priddy (785) 633-9058 kerrypriddy@kbsci.com

Victory Gems for Victory Junction

We are very excited about a new line of Jewelry created exclusively to support Victory Junction. Our colleague, Dave at Design Surveys has a friend in California who designs Jewelry. When she heard about the camp, she was moved to develop a line of items to support camp construction. Please visit her site and consider getting your credit card out while you are there. It's for a wonderful cause. Thank you Kate.

Kansas Children's Discovery Center

Recently one of our newly completed projects was opened to the public.

The Kansas Children's Discovery Center is such a cool place it makes me want to be a kid again. Apparently I am not the only one who feels that way. When I went to take some photos of the outside of the building, the parking lot was completely filled with cars and there were hundreds of kids inside the facility and these were kids too young to drive.

Make plans to visit this cool new museum when you can. It's "Serious Fun."

For more information visit... http://www.kansasdiscovery.org/

2011 - Catch For A Cause

We had a great time on June 4th and 5th hosting a fundraiser for Victory Junction. We plan to hold this event every year and we hope that it grows bigger and bigger each year. Lots of people enjoyed free food and drink, live music and fishing. Here is a fun video of the event on YouTube, which you might like to view if you have a few minutes.

Patty Petty to host KBS fundraiser for Victory Junction

June 4th and 5th, 2011 - Please come out to Hillsdale Lake near Paola, KS for a great time. We will provide food, drinks, live music and fun. We only ask for donations to help build the new camp for children with disabilities or health challenges, Victory Junction - Midwest coming soon to Kansas City, KS.

Garfield Pool Makes Opening Splash

Saturday, May 28th, 2011, KBS and the City of Topeka cut the ribbon on an exciting new pool at Garfield Park in North Topeka. In spite of the cool weather, swimmers from North Topeka showed up to see the new pool.

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-05-28/brrrr-garfield-park-pool-opens-saturday

Emporia Community Building Ground Breaking

NASCAR driver and Emporia, KS native Clint Bowyer was in his home town to host a groundbreaking ceremony on the Emporia Community Building which he is funding. KBS Constructors is proud to be associated with this project. On a cold March morning the groundbreaking took place. There is a video available on YouTube if you would like to see the festivities.

Clint Bowyer Gives Back to Emporia

Emporia, KS (February 28, 2011)— NASCAR driver and Emporia native Clint Bowyer, has made a generous donation to build a new Community Building in Emporia. The new facility is to be of timber frame construction, with 6,500 SF of meeting space, a catering kitchen, and restrooms. Outside there will be a patio and fire pit, surrounded by berm seating and a covered serving area. This project also receives great support from Lyon County, who will provide street and parking improvements to support the facility.

"We are thrilled to join The Bowyer 79 Fund, The Emporia Community Foundation and Lyon County to deliver this new community building," said Dan Foltz, President of KBS Constructors. “KBS is honored to work with design partners Burns & McDonnell, PKMR Engineers and Central Kansas Engineering Consultants to bring this new facility to Emporia. “ Rob Cunningham, Project Manager for KBS Constructors said, “With design nearing completion, we expect to begin soliciting prices from area subcontractors in March, with an anticipated construction start in April. “

Best Solutions are Not Always Apparent

As we go through life we form assumptions based on our experience. My life experience normally serves me well in this regard. However, there are times when I am surprised by my own assumptions which turn out to be wrong.

For instance, a recent experience we had while constructing a church sanctuary, taught me that I needed to re-think some things I have learned over the years regarding constructing buildings.

Structural steel was, and still is, a cost effective way to construct a large volume interior space. However, few church congregations will accept a painted steel structure as the finished ceiling of their church. This means the contractor must construct some kind of ceiling in addition to the roof structure. This is not an inexpensive task if the desired ceiling is to be a high cathedral ceiling constructed of drywall or plaster, for it requires the use of a lot of expensive scaffolding and it is very labor intensive.

Suppose you construct the building of wood structural members which are pre-finished instead? These types of church sanctuaries were once common in the US, until steel became relatively inexpensive in the latter half of the 20th Century. As a result, steel became almost a default building material for this type of structure, especially in the great plains where forests are pretty much non-existent. So what has changed?

Steel prices have gone up dramatically in the last 10 years with increased demand in the world market, primarily from China. Wood has gone up as well, but not as dramatically. Consider that with this type of wood structure, often called glue laminated structures, what you are using for the structure becomes the ceiling too.

To some people's eyes, including mine, the inside of a wood structure is much more warm and inviting than a drywall, plaster, or acoustic tile ceiling. So, when we were able to save St. Bernard's $100,000 and still give them a beautiful building, we not only found a solution to save them money it was also a very attractive solution. At least this is my opinion. You be the judge.

Joseph Bramlage

Director of Marketing