The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Chelsea contractor wins award for work at U-M's Crisler Arena
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 10, 2008
If you noticed a better picture on your TV while watching Michigan Wolverine basketball this season, your eyes were not deceiving you.
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It wasn't your TV, it was new lighting at Crisler Arena that was installed by a Sylvan Township electrical contracting firm.
The work of JG Squared was so good, in fact, that it even won the 2008 Pyramid Award from the Washtenaw Contractors Association.
"The award was for the innovation we used," said Jerry Gordenier, owner of the company.
The WCA bestowed the award at a banquet held March 14 at Ann Arbor's Kensington Court Hotel.
Gordenier explained that because of the innovation they came up with, they were able to complete the work without having to cover and uncover the floor each time or disrupt normal operations.
The arena was used for basketball practices and other events during the day, so the work had to be done from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
"We came up with a support system that hung from the rafters," Gordenier said.
"We carried it up the bleachers and slid it out on the catwalks and left it there to eliminate the time-consuming process of moving equipment on and off the floor every day."
The goal was to have the lights installed by Nov. 1, in time for the first men's basketball game, and Other contractors had convinced the university that the job could not be completed by then, and were given an extension to Dec. 1.
JG Squared was able to complete the 45-day job by Oct. 28 with a crew of six to 10 workers.
Gordenier said U-M was pleased with the company's performance on the $850,000 contract.
"They were thrilled with the job," he said, noting that about 70 percent of his company's work is for the university.
Although this is the first Pyramid Award that JG Squared has earned in its 10-year history, it has twice won the "Fast Track" award for business growth from the Washtenaw Business Development Council.
The award-winning innovations consisted of the creation of special brackets to fit to the existing 90-foot high I-beams that would support perpendicular scaffolding. These were necessary to overcome the problem of the new lights being installed 10 feet away from any existing platform.
Another technique was created to install six-light sets in each of the arena's four corners, because the weight of the new lights prevented them from being mounted in the previous manner.
With help from the Musco lighting company, a design was created using a combination of aviation wire, shackles, turnbuckles and chokers to suspend the fixture mounting bars 10 feet from an existing catwalk and 60 feet above the basketball court.
This setup was installed by straddling a ladder from the catwalk to the mounting bar.
The new lighting now meets NCAA standards, and Gordenier said people immediately noticed the upgrade.
"The difference between then and now is like the Stone Age vs. the Space Age," he said.
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