RIB MOUNTAIN, Wis. (Aug. 1, 2006) – Safety is getting a face-lift in the Town of Rib Mountain. The attractive new Rib Mountain Public Safety Building is nearing completion, and those who represent the structure and the town couldn’t be happier.

“The old public safety building was … antiquated, to say the least,” said Town Chairman Allen Opall. “Emergency vehicles had to stop traffic both ways just to back in.”

The new $2.3 million, 17,400-square-foot facility, at Highway N and Clover Road, will be more user-friendly for emergency drivers. And it already has saved town taxpayers on the final bill, trimming an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 from early estimates with concrete products from nearby County Materials. The building utilized 41,000 units of Cinnabar-colored, smooth-finish Surelok™ Precast Concrete Brick; 3,400 square feet of 8-inch hollowcore plank and 3,000 square feet of 12-inch hollowcore.

“We really appreciated the availability of (Surelok concrete brick), and the versatility,” said Bob Sworski, Project Manager with SEH Architects of Chippewa Falls. “It has the look of full brick but the light weight of thin brick. The broad range of the color palette was nice too. And it probably saved us about 60 days, which is a huge cost savings.”

SEH used two sizes of hollowcore plank to reach spans of 36 to 40 feet without having to place columns amid the station’s large, pass-through truck bays.

“Hollowcore allowed us the fire-resistance we needed and gave us a cost benefit,” said Sworski, who estimated they saved about $12 per square foot on the entire building using County Materials’ Surelok concrete brick and hollowcore roof and floor systems. “And we could get these products delivered and assemble the building all at the same time. With other systems, we never would’ve gotten the load requirements we needed, and if you went with steel, then you’d be talking about a three- to four-week process for the shop drawings, and then you might have a 12-week lead time.”

Others who will spend a great deal of time at the building agree that the classical brick exterior lends an aesthetic dimension that both blends well with the community and enhances perceptions of the structure’s functionality.

“It looks a lot nicer than the old building,” Fire Chief Paul Wirth said. “And there’s room for expansion.”

The facility also is more centrally located than the previous public safety building and is expected to provide better fire coverage to the town and is expected to open in October.

County Materials operates 30 locations serving the Midwest. The family-owned, American company is an industry leader in the manufacture and distribution of concrete block, brick, stone, ready-mix, hollowcore, pipe, pavers, retaining walls and Aggregate Finish products for residential, commercial and municipal construction and landscaping.

For more information, call us at 1-800-289-2569 and ask for a product guide.