By Sara Strong
The Berkley expansion will probably be finished under budget and ahead of schedule.
The project is expected to be completed with a total of 74 construction days, counting work on the parking lot.
The short length of construction isn’t because it is an easy job.
"This is not an uncomplicated building," project supervisor Virgil Christensen said during a tour of the construction site Monday.
As Christensen Corporation, he is managing 33 contractors for this expansion, with the help of Luverne’s Public Works Director Darrell Huiskes, who Christensen credits with much of the success of the building project.
"A good team reduces cost," Christensen said.
The city of Luverne approved up to $750,000 for the addition of 8,500 finished square feet and some internal remodeling.
Luverne City Council members, city staff and Luverne Economic Development Authority members joined the tour, which showcased the expansion of Berkley Technology Services.
Without pinning down specifics before everything’s accounted for, Christensen thinks the project will be just less than $700,000 and finished by Dec. 6.
He said, "The building itself is complicated, but it is just a large room [with cubicles]."
Work on the BTS building is complicated by the technical needs of its inhabitants.
During the tour, Christensen directed the group to look into the unfinished ceiling, with a complicated layout of pipes, wires and boxes.
Other than what’s visible, the building has other interesting complications. There are 45 electrical circuits just for computers. There are more than 500 locations that can be activated for some type of technology, such as phones, computers, voice mail systems or general power.
Other features that might not be so noticeable at first, help make the building special according to Christensen.
The bathrooms in the office area, for example, are covered in intricate tile work; all window sills are surrounded in solid surface material.
"This Corian is my favorite material," Christensen said. "When people come together to talk by a window, this way, they have something better to look at and to kind of rest their hands on."
Heating such a space is another issue of its own. Electronics such as copy machines, lights and computers, not to mention more than 100 workers, add heat to the building.
There’s a constant flow of hot and cool air that unifies the temperature in all parts of the building. The water-to-air heat pump keeps temperatures even by accepting or rejecting heat as needed.
From the ground up
Virgil Christensen started working in his chosen field as a young man. He’s semi-retired now, but he could be called "the man who built Luverne."
Many of the city’s current, modern structures are notches on Christensen’s tool belt.
The Methodist, Baptist and Catholic churches are among his projects; banks, apartments and retail spaces are also on his resume; and he’s helped with parts of the school and hospital structures.
Christensen’s work covers a huge percentage of the city of Luverne.
This current construction phase is the fifth he’s done for Berkley. Christensen said he’s enjoyed keeping up with the latest project in Luverne.
"The city of Luverne has been very good to me and I guess I owe it to them."
Besides helping to construct, or reconstruct Luverne, Darrell Huiskes points to other projects that have gotten attention for Christensen.
In Aberdeen, S.D., for example, President George Bush recently spoke at the Barnett Center and publicly said it was one of the nicest facilities he’d visited. Christensen was in charge of that project.
Christensen has also done work for the Catholic Church in other cities that was well received.
Huiskes said, "The city owes Virgil a large debt of gratitude for what he does for the community."
Business of expansion
The 10-year lease on the BTS building was due to expire in December 2004, but according to the agreement, Berkley Corp. will sign another 10-year lease on the building contingent on the following conditions:
LEDA will add 8,500 square feet to the existing 20,000-square-foot BTS structure.
CWG employees will move into the BTS building. There are about 100 CWG employees, including 20 who will move back to the Luverne location from Sioux Falls.
Berkley Corp. will donate the vacated Tri-State building to the city. The 30,000-square-foot building is worth roughly $1 million.
The City Council approved $750,000 in financing in August.
The city still owes about $900,000 on the current BTS building. Lease payments on the building will cover those costs in addition to maintenance on the 33,000-square-foot Tri-State building.
Berkley will make lease payments of $10,000 per month, and at the end of 10 years will have the opportunity to purchase the building for $650,000 or extend the lease for five years at $10,000 per month.
Last year at this time BTS had 114 employees and CWG listed 147, including traveling employees and those in Sioux Falls.