Getting Better

The large arched panels at the roof line were, at the time, the largest prefabricated panels ever lifted. A record. The very first one was delivered early in the morning by our crew from the panel plant on Tampa Ave. The plant was probably 4 or 5 miles away from the jobsite and since the panels were too big to ever be legally transported, they would bring them down around 4 in the morning, hoping no one would see them. It worked.

Since these panels had large structural elements built into them, we had to hire Iron Workers to do the final welding and we used a composite crew to set them in place. Since we knew all of the local iron workers, it wasn't a problem...except for the local Carpenter's Business Agent, who was ticked off.

The panels were over 16' wide, 16' tall and about 6' deep. But, being made of lightweight materials, they were going to be an easy lift for the crane. And we had built a lifting point into the panel, so rigging was very simple...attach one choker and let it fly!

And so we did. After some tense moments as the crew made sure everything lined up with the panels below, we finally saw some sparks flying and knew the panel was being tack welded into place.

We were going to have to wait until the next morning for another arched panel to make it's secret journey down the hill to us, or so we thought. But then, the owner of McKenzie Construction came out of the job trailer to tell me to take the panel back down. What? He wanted to have the local TV news cover the story and we would have to fly the panel back up for the cameras. The owners of the Circus Circus also wanted the publicity. I said, 'No!' There was some shouting and some threats were made. Finally, I said I would take it back down when Mr. Solari told me to. I didn't have to wait long. In a few minutes the Project manager called me into the trailer, "Phone call for you, Steve."

So... we hooked the panel to the crane, cut the welds loose and lowered it to the ground. 30 minutes later, the TV crew arrived and we did it all over again. Better, of course.