Narrow nightclub nears completion
Thin lot poises construction challenges
By Charles Rathmann, of SBT
Once construction of Wet, a new nightclub in Milwaukee’s North Water Street entertainment district, is completed, the bar patrons won’t be the only ones getting tight.
The three-story, 6,000-square-foot nightclub will be crammed into its 20-foot-wide lot, sandwiched between two other nightspots in the block between Juneau and Highland avenues.
The tight quarters and the need to preserve the structural stability of the adjacent buildings presented many design and construction challenges.
"In over 20 years, I have never tried to build a three-story building in a 20-foot-wide space," said Mike Blomquist, McCloud Construction’s director of construction.
Brookfield-based McCloud is the general contractor on the project, which will be owned by Mike Goldberg, owner of the land and the adjacent Fitzgibbons nightclub, and leased by Nick Howell, proprietor of Sauce, a Milwaukee restaurant at 217 N. Broadway, and the Cush Lounge, 1806 E. North Ave.
The Wet project was designed by the Albion Group, Milwaukee. The interior motif will be created by Flux Design, the firm that designed the interior of Eve, another downtown entertainment venue.
While the appearance of the tony tavern will be striking, one of its most unique characteristics will be hidden once construction is completed. Challenging conditions meant contractors had to pay extra attention to the foundation.
"We placed equipment on buildings to the north and south to monitor any movement," Blomquist said.
According to Blomquist, care had to be taken to make sure that, as crews excavated the narrow strip of land, the buildings to the north and south would not become unstable.
"Both buildings have basements, and the soils are real poor," Blomquist said, referring to the collection of old river sediment and rubble from previous buildings at the site. "We had to mount the foundation on piles. We drove them using a different method so we could do it during the week. We kind of vibrated them into place."
The foundation itself is nonstandard – a system of concrete grade beams that overlay the steel pilings. The weight-bearing walls of the building, according to Blomquist, will be built on top of the grade beams so pressure will bear down on areas that are well-supported.
In the weeks ahead, precast concrete planks will be placed onto the grid system to form the subfloor.
"We will need to use a 100-ton truck crane parked on Water Street to unload the planks from a truck on Water," Blomquist said. "We will need a big crane, because we will have to lift the planks over the other buildings and put them in place."
Another concern, given the weight of the truck and the 2,000-pound precast planks, was the stability of the pavement.
"There are some places under Water Street that are hollow, with the conduit and everything the city has," Blomquist said. "But we happened to know it is all solid under there from when we brought the utilities into the site."
Once the concrete planks are in-place, contractors will construct the masonry walls. That, too, will be a challenge.
"There is nowhere to store block on the site," Blomquist said. "They’ll have to truck in block each day."
As the walls rise, front glass overhead doors will be installed, so the entire front of the building will be able to open to Water Street. The project is slated for occupancy in October, according to Blomquist.
July 25, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
