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Northeast Tennessee contractors help rebuild Atlanta Motor Speedway
On July 6, a tornado spawned by Hurricane Cindy hit Atlanta Motor Speedway and severely damaged most of the suites and many of the other buildings.
Winds in excess of 150 mph and a funnel cloud a half-mile wide caused catastrophic damage, estimated by some to be in excess of $30 million.
Edd Hill, owner of Bristol, Tenn.-based HVAC Inc., said the next race was only weeks away, so Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) could not wait to work through a settlement with its insurance carrier and prepare reconstruction drawings.
"Every successful NASCAR driver is backed by a knowledgeable and skilled pit crew," said Hill. "That's what SMI needed to bring racing back to Atlanta Motor Speedway - a rebuild pit crew."
SMI found its team in Northeast Tennessee, selecting contractors that had a track record of completing complicated projects at Bristol Motor Speedway within a short lead-time.
In addition to HVAC Inc., which is handling all the mechanical and plumbing for the rebuild, the AMS rebuild team, all from Tennessee, includes J.A. Street and Associates of Blountville; Rentenbach Constructors of Knoxville; Summit Roofing BSR, Powell Construction, Woods Painting, Peerless Woodworking and Shuttle Engineering, all of Bristol; and E.S. Dockery Interiors of Johnson City.
Hill said the team was on site doing a damage assessment within 72 hours.
"Demolition started immediately and eight days after the tornado hit we began ordering material and preparing plans to rebuild," Hill said.
"By the last week in August, all of the buildings were dried in with new roofs, 675 tons of new air conditioning equipment was in place, the new plumbing and electrical was roughed in, new sheetrock was installed and painted and ceilings were going in," he added.
Stephen Swift, SMI project manager, was pleased with the results.
"The contractors from East Tennessee have been great," Swift said. "The response time was phenomenal and they have performed well past our expectations."
"In the short time frame we had to rebuild the buildings, we had to call upon our A-team to help us out," he added. "The contractors from East Tennessee have without a doubt worked as a team and made this catastrophe a great construction marvel. SMI gives all appreciation to the contractors from East Tennessee."
The Atlanta Motor Speedway project was completed by the end of October.
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