Southside Early Childhood Center - Construction Progress Continues

November 26, 2013
It appears that most or all of the presently cast tilt wall panels have been put into position. Workman are systematically pealing away the form liner. This is material used to efficiently place the thin bricks and stone texture onto the wall. This thin plastic allows the bricks to be placed with high precision by carpenters in a fraction of the time require to lay out true masonry walls. The work so has concentrated on the the front or two story section of the building which will house staff and Southside Administrative personnel. Only a few of the one story panels have been tilted at the North end of the building. The weather here in the Midwest has turned off much colder which may have slowed things some. Still and all progress is progressing at a modest pace compared with other forms of building construction. This will truly be a robust and long lasting form of construction for this building type.

View From Alley

 

View of Admin. Wing from Ann



View of Admin. Wing  showing stair tower.

View of partial main building entry

View of main entry and stair tower from Russel

View from Russell Showing fire separation wall between admin and classroom wing

Southside Early Childhood-Let the tilting begin!

November 20, 2013.
Southside Early Childhood center reaches major milestone.

A major step forward as the long awaited tilting of the tilt walls start. While work was suspended today do to the rain, Wednesday marked a real milestone for the project with the first walls being tilted up. The walls have been cast and cured laying down. Now they are being tilted into position. Construction on the building shell should proceed rather quickly as Rhodey Construction and the tilt wall contractor Fenix work through the process of tilting the cast concrete panels. The panel system being used incorporates thin brick and form liner stone as well as integral walls insulation. This is a highly efficient and robust construction assembly which should serve the new SSECC for many years into the future. Southside has been provide service in South St. Louis for over 128 years. The new building will help them continue these incredibly valuable community support for generations to come. Oculus Inc. designed the new facility. Aedifica Case is the structural engineer. CEDC is the Civil. Cole is the landscape Architects.

Link to Fox news story!

Panels along Jefferson

Jefferson side of Corner

Panels along Russel!

View toward South Jefferson

View From Alley

Stabilizers

Looking North on Jefferson!

Thanks to everyone who attended the Oculus Inc. annual open house!

Thank You!

We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend our annual open house on Friday July 5th, 2013. We had many great friends, clients and future clients to share the festivities with. Here are some photos taken from the balcony of Oculus Inc. of fireworks and air shows.

Fireworks Under the Gateway Arch!

 Click th is link for additional photos

SouthSide Early Childhood Breaks Ground for New Oculus Inc. designed School!

 

On February 28, 2013, Oculus was proud to participate in the ground breaking for the “New” SouthSide Early Childhood Center and community hub to be located on a site bounded by Russell on the North, South Jefferson on the East and Ann on the South. The new home for SouthSide, years in the making, will provide an outstanding new facility to replace their existing facility. SouthSide reflects the type of project we are the most proud of here at Oculus Inc. They have been an institution serving the under privileged in St. Louis for over a century and with the new facility they will do so long into the future. Oculus Inc. has been working with the leadership of SSECC for over two years, and we are close to seeing the project turn from dream into reality. Everyone in the St. Louis community should be proud to have organizations like SouthSide in our great city.

We at Oculus would also like to say a special thank you to the key contributors and donors who have helped make this project possible. We certainly would like to thank Ameren Corp., Emerson, Edward Jones, Centene, Maritz, Nestle-Purina as well as Deaconess Foundation, Bellwether Foundation, William T. Kemper Foundation, Trio Foundation, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Philpott Family Foundation, The Crawford Taylor Foundation Dana Brown Charitable Trust and a challenge by The J.E and L.E Mabee Foundation.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay speaking at the ground breaking!

SouthSide Board members, the mayor and students and parents turning the first shovels of ground.

 

The new facility will provide increased capacity for enrollment, light filled early childhood classrooms, energy efficient operations, community spaces for meetings and family learning workshops. The site also provides outstanding community access while infilling a prime city location which has been under developed for many years. Stay tuned for much more as the project progresses!

Please visit the SSECC website and Blog for more information or you share our passion for Early Childhood education and are looking for ways to contribute to this incredible organization serving the St. Louis Community.

From the left Gary Gray/SSECC Board menber, Ron Reim/Oculus Inc., Ron Unterreiner/Rhodey Construction, & Matt Thole/Oculus Inc.

 

 

Lisa Bell Reim/President of Oculus Inc., Ron Reim/EVP of Oculus Inc., Matt Thole/Job Captain for Oculus Inc.