Millcreek Shopping Center
As you drive through Millcreek Square Shopping Center what immediately stands out is the intricate detail on the front façade of the buildings. Smucker Company provided all the cold-formed framing for all the walls, soffits, towers and columns that make up the front façade and all other walls of Building B.
The main function of the work that Smucker Company installed is covered by finish products such as EIFS and brick that is installed by other trades. However, without the framing skills of the Smucker Company workers, there would be nothing there to attach the finish products. So, even though the work is covered, it does not diminish the importance of the details and preciseness of the framing work.
- Client: Millcreek Shopping Center
- Location: Lancaster, PA
- Project Type: Retail
- Contractor: High Construction
This project was challenging specifically because of the detailed cornice and multiple stepped soffit work that creates the appealing finished product. These intricate details place a high demand on the ability to work with many small pieces of metal studs, fasteners and clips. During the winter of 2011, there were many days during January and February when working outside was a significant challenge because of the extremely cold, windy and snowy conditions. It is very difficult to install this level of detailed framing when the worker is wearing gloves. This slowed production and in some cases even forced the Smucker Company crews to take the day off because of the cold.
Another challenge of this project was the schedule. It wasn’t so much the durations, but the fact that the project was started by the GC in the fall of 2010. Then, to accommodate the Christmas shopping season all construction personnel had to vacate the project during November and December. Then in January, the project restarted and continued to completion. It’s always an additional challenge to mobilize, then stop, then mobilize again.
Regardless of the issues with the cold and schedule, Smucker Company was able to complete the project on time and the quality of the work was not compromised. We enjoy seeing the finished product, knowing and understanding all the details and challenges that were overcome to get the building to how it looks today.