Local firms helping to build miller park
BY MICHAEL BURKE, Journal Times, Sunday, September 19, 1999MILWAUKEE -- It was just like hanging a sliding closet door, except that this door frame was six stories tall, had the weight of 100 200-pound men, and had to be set in place by a 120-foot crane.
Welcome to Miller Park, where everything is bigger than life, from the work crew to the nuts and bolts. That would certainly also apply to the quite unfathomable price tag which, with mark-ups, has reached an estimated $394 million.
However, "It's going to be a fantastic place to watch a baseball game," said Dale Nielsen, vice president of marketing and architectural products for Nielsen Building Systems.
He's in a position to know. Nielsen is at the construction site frequently because the family-owned firm is helping to build Miller Park.
Outcries of anguish have been heard from many Racine County citizens about the skimming of a .1 percent sales tax from their wallets to help build the stadium. But the trail of money between here and Miller Park is not completely one way.
Three local firms have had participation in the gargantuan project, and the value of their projects will total roughly $10 million. The project is worth about $3.6 million to Nielsen Building Systems, 4820 6 Mile Road.
The stadium interior-plumbing contract with Advance Mechanical, 1500 Durand Ave., is worth considerably more: about $5.3 million initially but closer to $6.2 million with the change orders.
"If you want to flush a toilet on Opening Day, you can thank us," said Al Koch, chief engineer for Advance.
For more coverage of local firms building Miller Park, see Sunday's The Journal Times.