Mammoth Cave's Overdue Welcome
LEED Gold facility defeats funding, construction challenges
By Angelle Bergeron
A gleam in the National Park Service’s eye for many years, the new, LEED Gold-rated Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center in Kentucky has been slow to fruition.
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| The Mammoth Cave project was scheduled for completion in the spring, but the LEED gold criteria proved
a challenge for the contractor and subcontractors. |
Along with the longest cave in the world, the beautiful Green River valley and the flora and fauna of hilly central Kentucky, visitors to Mammoth Cave National Park may now enjoy a 12,000-sq-ft visitor center.
But the National Park Service’s new LEED-gold visitor center was slow in coming.
“We’ve been working on plans for this since about 2000,” says Vickie Carson, park public information officer. “Our one funding source (fees from cave tour ticket sales) isn’t enough in one year to pay for the entire project, so we had to wait several years.”
In October 2007, Martin Construction Co. of Louisville, Ky., began demolishing the old administration building to make way for phase one of the visitor center. Martin’s contract includes the structure built immediately adjacent to the existing, 1964-built center, as well as some outside pavilions for cave tour meeting spots.
The project was scheduled for completion in the spring, but the LEED gold criteria was a challenge for the contractor and subcontractors, says John Glass, construction manager for Alpha Corporation of Dulles, Va., hired by the Park Service as construction manager on the project.
“Commercial contractors not familiar with LEED standards don’t have the experience to know everything to look for, and this project had a lot of requirements,” Glass says.
Martin hired Luckett and Farley Architects, Engineers and Construction Managers Inc. of Louisville as LEED consultants, says John Davis, superintendent for the general contractor. “We had to recycle everything from the old building and make sure every material and process, down to paint smell, was within LEED guidelines,” Davis says.
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| The contractor had to install a particular sandstone to match some of the architectural work installed in
other park buildings. |
The LEED-certified architectural firm handled construction submittals and advised the contractor on suitable materials, recycling and construction methods.
“We’ve done work for the Fish & Wildlife Service, but the national parks are a little more stringent than most of our government clients,” says Nathan Fuchs, architect with Luckett and Farley. Obtaining materials with sufficient recycled content and within the prescribed, 500-mi radius was a challenge, Fuchs says. “If we couldn’t recycle locally,” he adds.
“We had to ship any materials left over after construction back to the manufacturer. We did recycle 1,300 tons of concrete (from the original building), all steel and copper and most of the brick and rebar.”
By the end of the project, Martin and its subcontractors were well versed in what it takes to meet LEED gold standards, Glass says.
“We have achieved 97% on recycling and other gold criteria,” Davis says. “We’re running about 10% above what is required.”
Glass says that because any water that infiltrates the cave’s soil will react with the underlying limestone, making it mildly acidic and possibly damaging the cave, “the groundwater and all the effluent the contractor uses have to be captured so as not to allow any water and offsite runoff to get into the cave system.”
Martin constructed erosion dykes and fit all storm drains with filtration socks. The contractor excavated a hole and installed a liner to provide a special area for the concrete trucks to wash out and to prevent any seepage into the cave, Glass says.
The contractor also had to install a particular sandstone to match some of the architectural work installed on other park buildings by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
“The sandstone used on some other park buildings was at one time mined within the park,” Glass says. “The contractor did a good job of matching the stonework color, size, method of placement and mortar color.”
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| John "O.J." Davis, superintendent for Martin Construction Co. of Louisville, Ky., oversees construction at the
Mammoth Cave site. |
Phase two won’t be as long in coming because Mammoth Cave National Park has received $8.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for that project.
“This is a wonderful boon to the park,” says Carson, who adds that the next phase would have been delayed two or three years without the additional funds.
Now, the NPS anticipates letting a contract in early 2010 with completion June 2011.
Phase two will include a book sales area, some offices and a large exhibit space.
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