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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper www.constructionnews.net
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 17
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Number 4
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APRIL 2015
Flying away
A tale of two screens
Jon Randolph and Cathy got carried away by the idea of sailing through skies all over the globe while attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta last year.
Clint Hansen, owner, and his wife, Vicky Hansen, run the shop at Hansen Screen Company and keep busy with interests outside of work, too.
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ver since attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October, Jon Randolph, vice president at Baker Triangle San Antonio, has been dreaming of taking his own hot air balloon flight. But Randolph’s ambitions don’t stop there. He will be taking a leave of absence to go on a balloon trip around the world. “There have only been a few people in history to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon, and Cathy and I are going to be on that list by the end of May,” declares Randolph. “We’re going to have help, of course. There’s no way I could do this without a trained professional along for the ride. It would be like having our pilot come in and do drywall.”
In 1998, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first to fly a balloon around the world nonstop, taking a little under 20 days to travel more than 25,000 miles. In 2002, Steve Fossett became the first to fly around the world nonstop solo in a balloon – or any aircraft – taking a little more than 13 days to travel more than 20,000 miles. Having researched the undertaking for the last four months, all things considered, Randolph assures that he will only be away from work for about a month, even optimistic that they may beat both Fossett’s flight time and his top speed of 186 miles per hour. continued on Page 24
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hile Hansen Screen Company celebrates its 40th anniversary selling, installing and even repairing screens for homes and business - owner Clint Hansen also has experience working on independent films for the big screen. Hansen has his own Internet Movie Database (IMDb) page, listing 19 acting credits, as well as credits as miscellaneous crew, producer and director of indie films. He already has two credits to his name for this year, including “Violence 4 Fun,” which is listed as filming. Hansen’s uncle, Greg Hansen, started Hansen Screen Company out of his garage in 1975 and then partnered with his father in 1984. Clint came into the business right out of high school in 1986.
His uncle retired in 2000 and then his father in 2003, and he’s been the sole proprietor ever since. When the economy took a downturn in 2009, Hansen was searching for a parttime job on Craigslist when he found someone looking for a place to film a continuation to one of his favorite movies, “The Warriors.” Hansen offered the use of his shop as a location, and he was offered a role in the film. He played the part of a biker mercenary, and he loved it. He’s been acting on the side ever since. In the office, Hansen has a poster for “Amounting to Nothing,” a film from his Place to B Productions, in which he continued on Page 24
Improving upon history
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he Plaza de Armas Building Improvements project carried a series of challenges more than 130 years in the making for Byrne Construction Services and its design-build project team. The 58,000-sf building with two floors and a basement is located downtown next to the Spanish Governor’s Palace and across from City Hall. The goal was to renovate and repurpose the building for its new tenants, the City of San Antonio’s Department of Communications & Public Affairs and Cultural & Creative Development, as well as a healthy eatery, retail and an art gallery. The structure is actually four buildings that were all connected to one another. Phase I, demolition, lasted from February 2013 to June 2013, and Phase 2, build up, lasted from July 2013 to substantial completion in November 2014. During both phases, the design-build project faced several challenges, often
The Byrne Construction Services project team spent a year-and-a-half carrying out major renovations on the historic Plaza de Armas building. L-R: Gary Sanchez; Devin Fitzpatrick; Jess Foltz; Larry Davenport
requiring custom solutions. Excavations yielded archaeological discoveries from a time period that predates the Alamo and covers a historical gap from which the archaeology community has been missing information. Gary Sanchez, project manager, estimates that the team recovered more than a dozen boxes of artifacts. The project incurred a major delay due to the archaeological dig, which meant a 33 percent increase in project schedule. Also, this treasure trove of findings required the team to do a complete redesign of the structural foundation halfway through the project. Another issue was waterproofing due to the significant amount of water infiltration into the basement through the deteriorated masonry walls and vapor drive from the foundation. The design team and waterproofing consultant continued on Page 24