South Attleboro, MA – Nadeau Corporation Construction Development and Engineering of South Attleboro started delivering facility renovations, additions, and new construction for the the Salvation Army almost 25 years ago. This collaboration continues with the recent renovation at the Salvation Army’s Thrift Store at 209 Broadway in Saugus. “Sales increased by more than 80% since the renovation was completed in November 2012,” said project manager Mark Menard. The $650,000 facelift for the 17,000sf retail store included a six phase renovation of the 31 year old building. The work incorporated new tile floors, ceilings, four new dressing rooms, check-out kiosks, a bright new paint job, ceiling fans, sprinklers, and new energy efficient lighting. Working in conjunction with architect William Turville of Arlington, the teams were able to implement Turville’s strategic lighting plan with energy efficient fixtures to make it more inviting for customers. The stores increase in sales is particularly impressive when you consider that people continued flooding in while Nadeau’s construction was in progress. “ We kept working as they kept working,” said Major Taylor of the Salvation Army.
Menard also was able to schedule and coordinate the more disruptive aspects of the project between 6:00am and 8:45am before the staff and customers arrived. The work was completed 1 ½ months ahead of schedule so that the store could enjoy the busy November to Christmas shopping season.
Along with Nadeau Corp acting as general contractor, William Turville as architect, and Major Taylor representing the Salvation Army, another key player is Mark Estes, the founder of MDE Consulting of Mattapoisett. He played a vital role in planning, managing budgeting, and revising priorities as the project matured. .
Along with the retail space, the facility is home to one of four major distribution centers for New England. 47,000sf of warehouse space is attached to the store and it’s used for collecting donations, processing the items, and shipping them as far North as Manchester, N.H. It also supports the Alcohol Rehab Program as members of the program work 40 hours a week for six month periods or more to earn their living area and other assistance to help them recover.
Lighting issues needed to be addressed because many of the fixtures were the original large round mercury vapor lamps that were installed back in 1982. “We were able to save the Salvation Army approximately 15% in electricity cost for the warehouse with the new lights,” states Turville. Bristow Electric was the key subcontractor for handling the implementation of this lighting endeavor which involved over 70 new lights.
Lastly, one last problem needed solving. When items don’t sell, eventually they get shipped off to help third world countries. This is a great program that helps countless people, but the issue occurs when the 1,000 lb bundles of product need to be picked up by forklifts and loaded onto trucks. The siding of the building began breaking due to the constant smashing that was required for the forklift to get a good handle on the bundles that come stacked three high. Nadeau Corp and Jahn’s Metal Craft of Cumberland, R.I. formulated a solution. They drove heavy duty posts four feet into the earth and firmly secured four highway style guard rails onto them. These now protect the metal warehouse building walls and siding will stay intact no matter how many thousands of pounds smash into the apparatus. When all was said and done, the Salvation Army has boosted sales with its new image, cut its electric bill to funnel more money into its programs, and created a safer and more efficient work environment for its staff. On top of that “There were no change orders, they were pretty happy about that,” laughed Menard. “We budgeted $650,000 and we closed it out at $650,000.”
This is Nadeau Corporation’s 10 involved with prospective projects in Hanover and Somerville that are in the preliminary stages.