Darland Construction Co. has recently completed renovations on 16 buildings on Mosaic's 400-acre Bethphage Village campus in Axtell, Nebraska. The $3.2 million dollar project included a broad scope of interior and exterior renovations. The project spanned seven months and required the involvement of numerous specialized subcontractors.

Darland project manager Tom Grieb explains, "The construction itself was quite manageable. What was challenging is that we were working on an active residential campus serving individuals with often profound disabilities—disturbances to their daily routines could be upsetting. Our goal was to manage the construction in a way that had the least possible impact on the residents and staff, and really step up safety."

Careful planning and weekly meetings with campus staff laid the foundation for the successful project. Darland developed a pre-construction training workshop which every subcontractor was required to attend. The training educated workers on how to successfully interact with residents and how to meet expanded safety requirements.

"We were very impressed with how Darland planned and integrated with our community," notes Mosaic facility manager Robert Franco. "They listened to our staff and made adjustments as needed. They really took our concerns about our residents to heart and made it a primary goal."

Also, because so many unknowns can be encountered in renovation projects, especially one in which many of the buildings are over 100 years old, the project accounting was completely open book. All estimates and invoices were 'on the table' at weekly budget review meetings. "It's a no surprises, true partnership way of working that really builds trust," adds Grieb.