October 15, 2020 at 10:20 a.m.
Community rallies to help with Hodag Dome work
Final inflation scheduled for this weekend
Community rallies to help with Hodag Dome work
Arizon Building Systems, the dome membrane manufacturer, was facing the daunting task of assembling the 12 pieces of the dome with very few workers and thus missed the original inflation date of Oct. 7. Without all the plates that hold the seams together in place, the rain that fell late last week also became a concern.
Rhinelander High School activities director Brian Paulson said Arizon tried to hire additional workers through Nicolet Staffing, but was unable to find enough people to replace those in quarantine.
"Friday we found out that we really had to get this thing together because we had rain coming," Paulson explained.
The process of putting the plates on the seams involved moving the material, and if there was water on the membrane, it would be that much heavier, he noted.
As some water had already accumulated on the material, it had to be swept off with brooms first which also required additional labor.
"So we put out the message throughout our district and on social media asking everybody if they could help," Paulson said. "And a lot of the people who came to help were community members, and they just came to lend a hand."
Paulson said many of the people who responded to the call just wanted to volunteer their services, but due to liability concerns they had to become temporary workers for Arizon to assist. He said between 25 and 30 people showed up to work Saturday while between 10 and 15 volunteered on Sunday.
"And that was besides the people who were already there working through Nicolet Staffing or Arizon people," Paulson said. "We are very appreciative with the people who stopped out and helped out."
By the time work stopped on Sunday, the membrane was "buttoned up," and could be inflated even if more rain fell, Paulson added.
And rain did fall on Monday, accompanied by strong winds.
The dome could not be inflated as long as winds are in excess of 10 mph, Paulson noted.
At a Monday meeting of the school board's capital projects ad hoc committee, superintendent Eric Burke presented a status update.
He briefed the committee on how the community members stepped up over the weekend to help finish putting the membrane together.
"What you'll see this week is the dome will be inflated and then deflated as they do some adjusting with things," Burke said.
Once the adjustment process is complete, the steel cables that will hold the dome in place will be strung, the panels with the Hodag logo will be attached and the final inflation will be done.
"I was told that anywhere from Friday to Sunday will be the final inflation, and it will take 3 1/2 to 4 hours to inflate. It's hard to tell which day it would be," he explained.
As a result, Burke also announced that the opening ceremony that had been set for Oct. 31 will have to be pushed back to mid or late November.
Burke also announced Monday that Janet Jamison has been recommended for hire as the dome manager. Jamison has been active in Little League, the Hodag Schools Foundation and other local groups.
The school board is expected to discuss the recommendation during its next scheduled meeting on Oct. 19.
Early Tuesday morning, the Arizon workers were able to inflate the dome to remove the water that had fallen Monday from the membrane and then deflate it again.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jamie@rivernews online.com.
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