ERMCO was recently recognized by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) with a 2023 NECA Project Excellence Award in the “Healthcare over $1,000,000” category for our work on the Broad Ripple Family Center project.
The NECA Project Excellence Award was established to showcase the exceptional work being performed by its members throughout the country. ERMCO was recognized along with this year’s other winners during NECA’s annual convention in Philadelphia.
A HEALTH-MINDED PARTNERSHIP
The Broad Ripple Park Family Center is a collaboration between Indy Parks & Recreation and Community Health Network (CHN). The almost 50,000-square-foot Family Center houses both a recreational center and a health clinic.
The Indy Parks recreation center and CHN health clinic work closely together to provide the Broad Ripple community with unmatched health services. Together, they provide healthy living and nutrition classes along with expanded capacity for physical therapy and pediatric care. Parks and public health go together!
The rec center now provides twice the programming space than the previous facility. It offers a gymnasium with multiple courts, an indoor track, a children’s play area, program rooms for group fitness, and multi-purpose rooms that can be used for various activities and events throughout the year. Administrative offices for the Family Center and Broad Ripple Park are located in the rec center portion of the building.
CHN’s outpatient health clinic serves as a multi-disciplinary center with family wellness, physical therapy, and neurological therapy. It features an X-ray room, five procedure rooms, and thirty exam rooms.
ERMCO's scope for the design-build project included electrical, temperature controls, mechanical, and plumbing for the entire building. For the recreational center, we were also responsible for installing the audio-visual, CCTV, and access control systems.
A SCENIC VIEW IN A SIGNATURE PARK
Indy Parks has labeled the 62-acre park one of its signature parks for its beauty and central role in the vibrant Broad Ripple community. It is also one of busiest parks among all of Indy Parks, serving tens of thousands of people every year. The park is in the middle of a 20-year, $65 million renovation project.
As renovation plans were vetted with the community, one message was continually repeated: connect the new Family Center to Broad Ripple Park and the White River, which runs through it. This was reflected in the building’s design. With its unique location inside Broad Ripple Park, the Family Center is surrounded by nature. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the group exercise rooms and large windows along the track take advantage of the scenic backdrop. Wherever you are in the center, you have a panoramic view of the park and the river.
ENHANCING EXERCISE WITH TECHNOLOGY
The TV monitors in each program room have remote connection capability, allowing instructors to lead virtual or in-person classes. This allows the center to offer a wider variety of activities to match the changing needs and desires of the community. The dynamic programing also allows park visitors to engage with the center in a variety of ways, ensuring there is always options available.
EFFICIENT OPERATIONS
ERMCO installed a separate utility service for each tenant. With separate services, each tenant is better able to measure and monitor the energy usage in their portion of the facility and to then adjust to improve energy efficiencies to support their needs.
ADDRESSING INSTALLATION CHALLENGES
With thirty almost-identical exam rooms in the clinic, the ERMCO team used a room-in-a-box approach to streamline installation. Each exam room received an “exam-room-in-a-box’ with prefabricated electrical items tagged to indicate their specific location within the room. As boxes arrived on site, they were delivered to their designated destination. Electricians removed the tagged items, set them next to their installation location, and then completed the installation quickly and efficiently.
In addition to ERMCO's role on the project, we held the contract for two additional subcontractors, mechanical and plumbing. This required additional levels of coordination and communication in order deliver the desired scope and maintain schedule.
Go to https://www.necanet.org/news-media/detail/news/2023/08/18/winners-of-neca's-2023-project-excellence-awards-announced to learn more about the2023 NECA Project Excellence Awards.