LakePoint Sporting Community Indoor Arena
Emerson, Ga.
Award of Merit

Owner Development Authority of Bartow County
Lead Design Firm Wakefield Beasley & Associates
General Contractor Gilbane Building Co.

This 170,000-sq-ft facility includes 12 hardwood basketball courts—convertible to 24 volleyball courts—via a clear-span, column-free floor space. Steel erection proved one of the project’s biggest challenges due to the facility’s 275-ft span. The contracting team determined that due to the site’s size, a crane with sufficient load capacity wouldn’t fit safely on site. As an alternate, the team developed a rigging plan that eliminated precarious lifts and then assembled four sections of the nearly 300-ft-long beam on the ground. Once assembled, four separate cranes lifted the beam and crews connected them in the air. Contractors estimate the steel erection sequencing plan shaved a week and a half from the schedule. Installing the 120,000-sq-ft continuous hardwood floor required meticulous effort to maintain consistent moisture and temperature at all levels under the 45- to 55-ft ceiling heights.