First let it be said, we never found the siding on the Events Center to be unsound structurally. What we did say was the siding job was “stupid looking” or “goofy” or “ugly” or “comical“ or “unprofessional” but never unsound. Until the soffit blew off the north side on Christmas 2016, we only dreamed it could be caught by the wind and blow off. The Vikings playground in Minneapolis had many panels blow off the same day, who would have thunk?

Remember when the City Council recently decided to pay for a consultant to look at the Events Center siding? The way the administration was handling the siding problems (among other things) was creating a lack of trust with their secrecy. So a Chicago vendor was hired after another secret RFP process was put together to make the wounded citizens and Council feel better. We wonder if da mayor understood the optics of another secret RFP / RFQ? Probably not.

This led to the urgently called mayoral presser called on January 5, 2017 at the Events Center to take credit for things having nothing to do with the moisture issues we have been concerned about. He decided to remind us how we bought a building with many flaws we aren’t supposed to know about. We have witnessed issues over the past few years but he does not care. He brought along Mark Cotter to make it look legit. As Mark finished his review of the City Council’s report, the mayor decided to take a turn using his spin machine. What a waste of time. For 16 minutes we were reminded of his greatest success as mayor, spending $180 million in infrastructure money to satisfy his ego (A $10 million dollar mortgage, per year, that comes directly out of our roads fund, the 2nd penny).

The press was then able to ask questions and get less than satisfactory answers for another 30 minutes. Cameraman Bruce was there to pick up a report and attempt to ask a question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DqubO0Lfbg&feature=youtu.be&t=25m9s

Da mayor brought back his “you’re not media crap again” when Bruce was speaking. KELO Radio’s Todd Epp decided Bruce’s question deserved an answer so he repeated it to get the speakers to answer it.

As you view the video playback, remember how little this mayor cares about the truth. Consider these questions:

• The walls have had water inside them, the rust proves it.

• There  are gaps all over the building needing to be fixed, to slow down the water flow into the walls. When will these be fixed?

• The poorly designed flashing has rivets popping. How did they manage this? The expansion and contraction of the 16 foot long panels will continue to rip the rivets out, how do we stop it?

• Why didn’t we hear about reverse flashing issues which let water into the walls and around windows?

• We did not find out about heat buildup issues caused by the poor ventilation. Oh yes, it’s Winter in South Dakota so no hot temperature to measure.

• We did find out the siding needs to be looked at every ten years but how bad will it be by then?

• We did find out the Imetco siding used cheaper butyl (oil based) caulking which melts in hot weather causing it to leak down the walls and collect dirt. Do we have a big enough pressure washer to clean it off every year?

• There is more we did not hear about because the consultants would have had to pay to remove siding to look at the Tyvek air filtration barrier being used as a water barrier. But they could have went from the backside.

• No mention was made of the lack of a water barrier like the Vikings playhouse has. As the siding moves and Tyvek breaks down, how do we know when to rip off all the siding and replace all of it?

• We did find out the siding was placed on the building according to the engineers and architects plans. This just proved MJ Dalsin did what they were instructed to do. There were no problems with their work, only with the way the Construction Manager at Risk cheapened the Events Center project with the mayor’s likely blessing? A question he has refused to answer for several years and again refused to answer yesterday.

BTW, when we will we ever see the $5,000 Judd Allen report?

Makes you wonder how much water the walls of our EC are holding back?

Minnesota Vikings stadium officials say they’re concerned about leaky walls and loose panels at the new $1.1 billion facility.

The Star Tribune reports that stadium executives said Friday that zinc panels covering the entire exterior of the building are being tested and that the panels’ durability are a health and safety concern. U.S. Bank Stadium has been open only nine months.

The facility’s general contractor, M.A. Mortenson, is working on the northwestern facade of the stadium after water seeped through and created puddles in various places, including a concourse.

Oh, but it gets better;

Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority says it doesn’t expect to have to pay for repairs. A Mortenson executive says the company will bear its responsibility for repairs.

I guess we will never know how much Mortenson has paid us or if it was sufficient. Because 1) we have no idea what damage could be behind the walls and 2) the settlement has been kept secret. If I were the next mayor, the first thing I would do is cut a hole in the wall, and see for myself.

Yes, that’s right kids, the same contractor and siding installer is having all kinds of fun with their handy work over in Minneapolis. Notice the images below? Looks like their famous ‘design feature’ is popular, unless you use it outdoors.

mplsisdin1 mplsisdin2

Both moisture and wind have previously caused trouble for the $1.1 billion building that opened in August. The zinc panels on the exterior have been the focus of a couple of concerns on the building.

Thousands of zinc panels line the exterior of the building. They are 12 inches high and range in length from 6 to 12 feet.

Initially, the panels were only bolted down along the bottom edge. After heavy storms last summer, some panels came loose and flapped in the wind. Mortenson workers then reinforced the panels along the top edge so they wouldn’t stay down.

The movement of the panels was attributed at the time to unexpectedly strong wind pressure on certain angles of the building.

In an unrelated problem, Mortenson had to remove and reinstall some of the rectangular zinc panels to access and replace a faulty moisture barrier on the building. More than a year ago, workers noticed dampness on a parapet wall and pooling of water in a gutter.

Mortenson executive John Wood said the replacement of the barrier was expected to cost the company up to $4 million.

And what did we do with our settlement money? We bought beer coolers.

UPDATE: Only minutes after I post the story above, the AL reports the same to the sister building right here in Sioux Falls;

Strong winds Sunday night caused part of the soffit on the building’s north side to peel off. Wind gusts reached up to 55 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

I think it is time to take former councilor Jamison’s idea and start peeling back the siding in certain spots and taking a look of what is underneath. Of course, we may have to hold back on the new beer coolers.

dsc00001

From Cameraman Bruce: The panels were installed on light gauge 2 x 4 metal studs with maybe light sheet metal screws. The weight of the soffit metal panels was whipped up and down during the storm breaking the sheet metal screws, thus releasing the framing. This is on the north Side between dock doors and west door.

BTW, look at the insulation laid in the framing. Looking up in the hole I did not see where there was much other insulation or ways to hold it up. You can see the sheetrock for third floor?

What I don’t understand is how does soffit come loose that is hidden underneath a concrete barrier from wind? The only time I have seen soffit come loose like that in the construction business is when there is water damage from above causing pressure on the soffit to come loose. Be interesting to see how the city covers this one up.