WMUR Visits Church Landing Project to Report on Made In America Challenge
Posted by admin on January 24th, 2012
WMUR New Hampshire visited the Church Landing Expansion project in Meredith to report on the Made In America Challenge taken on by the Inns & Spa at Mill Falls and Conneston Construction. Click on the link below to view the video and article.
http://www.wmur.com/money/30278473/detail.html
Made in America Challenge at Church Landing Phase II Expansion
Posted by admin on January 4th, 2012
CHURCH LANDING AND CONNESTON CONSTRUCTION, INC. TAKE MADE IN AMERICA CHALLENGE WITH CHURCH LANDING PHASE II EXPANSION
Project will be 95% Made in America Without Significant Increase in Cost
Meredith, N.H. – The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls in Meredith, in conjunction with Conneston Construction, Inc. (CCI), of Gilford, have taken on the Made in America Challenge with the Church Landing Phase II expansion project. The Made in America Challenge, an initiative of ABC-TV’s World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, is based on the simple concept of buying products that are made in America and help put Americans back to work.
“ABC World News Tonight and Diane Sawyer have been touting the virtues of this idea on the show for some time and it sparked our interest here in Meredith as we are in the construction phase of the Church Landing expansion,” said Rusty McLear, president of The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls. “We thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great to take this challenge, make this construction project Made in America, and help create jobs for Americans?’”
CCI began construction this fall on the Church Landing expansion, which features two new buildings with a total of 17,000 square feet of guest rooms, lounges and an in
door-outdoor pool.
“In a construction meeting in October, we went around the room and asked ourselves ‘Would it really be that hard to make sure as much, if not all, of the project was in fact manufactured in this country?’, “ said Ross Currier, Vice President of CCI. “We wondered that maybe a lot of what we’re already buying meets the definition of being Made in America. So that’s just what we did.”
According to Currier, all subcontractors were tasked with analyzing every single material to be used in the construction project to determine if everything being used is Made in America.
“If we determined it wasn’t Made in America, we asked ourselves, can we switch to a product that is domestically made? Is there an option to buy it in the US? If there is, will we have to pay more?,” said Currier. “These were the questions we asked ourselves, and what we discovered is that this expansion project could be 95% Made in America.”
McLear hopes this effort will help to serve as a blueprint for others looking to take the Made in America Challenge and help put Americans back to work.
“While it has taken some effort, this initiative has been well worth the time spent,” said McLear. “We are proud to say this project is 95% American made. Everything from the nails, the steel, the staples, the lumber and the bathtubs are domestically made. The remaining 5% that we weren’t able to buy American included the limited access elevator that we plan to install. That particular type of elevator is just not made in the U.S., but we are working with a manufacturer in Canada to supply that. Additionally, a small amount of the electrical panels, breakers and other switching gear, as well some of the screws, nuts and bolts are made outside the U.S.”
Currier added that the team was able to realize that in some instances products were the same price, yet provided better quality.
“By creating awareness of this effort, we have been able to create a Made in America development, and have not added substantially to the total budget, just $2,000 or so to overall cost,” added McLear. “Even though certain goods are more expensive, in total, the cost of the project is nearly identical. An effort well worth the time, awareness, and minimal increased expense, especially if we can contribute to putting Americans to work.”
McLear noted that while several New Hampshire projects receiving federal stimulus funds are required to buy American made products, this construction project is the only privately funded project in New Hampshire to be Made in America. According to findings on ABC-TV World News, if every builder bought just 5 percent more American materials it could create 220,000 jobs.
ABOUT THE INNS & SPA AT MILL FALLS
The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls broke ground in September 2011 to begin construction on Phase II of its Church Landing expansion. The new development will add 15 deluxe lake view rooms and suites in two new buildings. Named The Birch Lodge and The Boathouse Lodge, the new buildings are being constructed on either side of the existing Lake Shore Cottage which resides on the South end of Church Landing. The new buildings will be connected to the existing Church Landing by a semi-covered cedar walkway. The construction is expected to be completed in May 2012.
All rooms will all offer spectacular lake views, balconies and screened porches. In addition, each room will have a fieldstone fireplace, indoor whirlpool bath, wet bar, double glass and tile shower, and a bathroom LCD TV.
The Inns and Spa at Mill Falls are located in the historic village of Meredith, New Hampshire on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. The Inns family includes the four Inns; Mill Falls, Bay Point, Chase House and Church Landing as well as the Mill Falls Marketplace, the Cascade Spa and Meredith Gas Station. Church Landing was voted 3rd Most Romantic Hotel in the U.S. by Trip Advisor, 2011.
For more information, visit www.millfalls.com or call 800-622-6455.
GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY AT CHURCH LANDING
Posted by admin on September 16th, 2011
CCI is pleased to announce that we will soon be breaking ground on the next phase of expansion at the Church Landing Hotel in Meredith, NH. A ground breaking ceremony will held at the hotel on September 22nd, marking the beginning of construction of the new Birch Lodge and Boathouse Lodge at Hampshire Hospitality’s flagship resort located in Meredith, NH. Construction on the $3.2 million project will take place over the winter for a June 2012 opening. Stay tuned for future construction updates on this exciting project.
Work Begins on Church Landing in Meredith
Posted by admin on November 19th, 2010
Having recently received Planning Board approval from the town of Meredith, Rusty McLear of Hampshire Hospitality Holdings has hired CCI to construct their new conference room for the well-known resort.
Construction of 2,000 square feet of conference space and 1,000 square feet of expanded and renovated lobby space is expected to begin on December 6, 2010. Stay tuned for future updates on the latest project in the long list of work we’ve performed for Hampshire Hospitality Holdings.
YMCA Camps – Bear Island
Posted by admin on September 18th, 2009
CCI started work on two kitchen renovations for Merrimack Valley YMCA on Bear Island, Lake Winnipesaukee.
Mark L’Heureux will be site superintendent for Camp Lawrence (Boys Camp) which includes the demolition of the existing kitchen and construction of a new commercial kitchen. Mark Bolstridge will be the site superintendent for Camp Nokomis (Girls Camp) which includes gutting and renovating the existing kitchen.
To piggyback on Ross’s previous blog “In Construction, Planning is Everything”, since both of these projects are located on an island with no road access, all construction equipment and material must be barged in. Proper planning and scheduling of barge time is a must to maximize the barge to its fullest potential. Running out to the store to pick up something that was missed or forgotten is not an option.