Bettendorf hotel takes shape

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By Tory Brecht | Wednesday, August 9, 2006 3:09 PM CDT | () comments

Photos by Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES Workers prepare the 10th floor of the new Isle of Capri hotel in Bettendorf for a concrete pour Tuesday afternoon. In the background are the existing hotel, center, and the Isle’s riverboat casino.

Organized chaos is probably the best way to describe a high-rise building under construction.

On top, ironworkers and concrete pourers prepare floor No. 10 for the addition of floor No. 11. A couple stories lower, pipefitters finish off the wastewater and sprinkler systems. On the second floor, wall frames go up and electricians prepare to snake wiring through the rooms.

It’s day 173 of construction at the Isle of Capri’s 12-story, $45 million hotel on the Bettendorf riverfront, and somewhere between 58 to 80 construction workers are hard at it.

“It’s a different kind of construction,” said Joe Ryder, a Ryan Companies superintendent from Geneseo, Ill. “A lot of these guys aren’t used to working on tall buildings.”

Ryder said 90 percent of the workers on the site — from primary contractor Ryan Companies and a little more than 50 subcontractors — hail from around the Quad-City region, where buildings more than 10 stories are constructed only rarely.

Above the fifth floor, all materials must be brought up by one crane because the newly poured floors are not accessible via the temporary service elevator. Those working up high wear lifelines connected to their vests, especially when leaning out over the edge to bring in crane loads.

Ryder said not one day has been lost to injury since the work began.

The concrete is poured over rebar and tautly stretched post-tension cables to support the enormous weight and relentless pull of gravity.

“It takes a lot more organization up here,” Chuck Einfeldt of Davenport-based Treiber Construction said from his work space on the 10th floor. “All the trades have to work together and coordinate times.”

Despite the wind whipping off the Mississippi riverfront and a steep drop-off a scant few feet to his left, Einfeldt shrugs off any fear of heights.

“Some days it gets a little windy up here, but you’ve got a good view when you’re up this high,” he said.

Mike Ortega, also of Treiber and the president of Ironworkers Local 111, said the Quad-City area guys get a kick out of working on what will be a signature skyline building.

“This is a good job to be on because it’s a real boost to the area,” he said.

Mo Hyder, vice president and general manager of the Isle’s Quad-City properties, said the construction work is on time. The plan is for the hotel to open in May.

Ryder said the project will “top out” — meaning all of the steel and concrete work is completed up to the penthouse — by Sept. 22.

“The further up we get, the faster it seems to go,” he said.

The exterior “skin” of the 250-room hotel will start to be added Sept. 1, he said. It will be the same color scheme as the existing eight-story Isle hotel located to the south and east of the new tower.

Work already has begun on skywalks that will connect the new building to the existing hotel and a soon-to-be constructed events center owned by the City of Bettendorf and operated by the Isle. In addition, a new restaurant is under construction where the current Isle Center meets the new hotel.

“Things are going extremely well,” Hyder said. “We’ve been very pleased working with Ryan and working with the City of Bettendorf.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.

Tallest in the Q-C

At 12 stories, the new Isle of Capri hotel under construction on the Bettendorf riverfront will be the tallest building in that city. It also will rank among the tallest in the Quad-Cities. Other buildings topping the 10-story mark include:

MidAmerican Building Davenport 15 stories

The Wells Fargo/Davenport Bank building 12 stories

(17 if clocktower included)

Blackhawk Hotel Davenport 11 stories

Kahl Building

Davenport 10 stories

LeClaire Apartments

Moline 15 stories

(17 if penthouse included)

Kone Tower, Moline 16 stories