The Omaha World-Herald "This is not a typical building," said Mark Peitzmeier, Peter Kiewit and Sons' general superintendent in charge of the recent Omaha World-Herald's Freedom Center project. "It had some of the toughest concrete forming jobs I've ever had. It probably has five times the amount of concrete found in a typical building."
Gottschalk shared his vision with the man whose company would ultimately build the "Freedom Center," The World-Herald's state-of-the-art production facility. Gottschalk's dream was to make a powerful and timeless statement while reflecting the quality of the World-Herald. He also wanted to fulfill a commitment he had made to the revitalization of downtown Omaha.
Groundbreaking for the new Freedom Center was May 1, 1999. The grand opening took place on September 1, 2001 featuring keynote speaker James Baker, former U.S. Secretary of State. Final press testing was completed and the new "upgraded" Omaha World-Herald began printing Sept.1 editions in the Freedom Center late on Aug. 31, 2001.
The $125 million Freedom Center is the cornerstone of a major downtown Omaha building boom that will eventually include more than $1.5 billion in new construction downtown. Omaha will reap the long-term benefits of many new recreational, travel, retail, corporate and manufacturing facilities that have been or will be built within the next four years.
New technology vs. obsolescence
The decision to build the new $125 million manufacturing center did not come without more than a decade of planning, research, and, of course, the financial commitment from its shareholders. A major factor in the newspaper industry today is whether or not to invest in new equipment and technology...new state-of-the-art presses costing millions of dollars...and more so when everyone hears the industry predictions of less spontaneous print media giving way to speed-of-light, electronic media. John Gottschalk said recently, "People who equate technological change and the use of information make a big mistake. Even though technologies have changed throughout history, what has not changed is the use of information. And nobody does it better than newspapers."
Freedom and democracy stand in public view Gottschalk couldn't have known, while sitting in the boat with his fishing buddy, how appropriate the Freedom Center name would become, in light of recent violence against this country's basic freedoms.
"It's there for everyone to see!", commented a passerby walking east on Capitol Avenue. "The Omaha World-Herald, Free Press...Free People," as the circular logo in The Freedom Center suggests. It stands as a tribute to the First Amendment protection of freedom of the press. Gottschalk commented on the chosen theme, "The name comes from the belief that newspapers are the daily textbook of democracy. This is about the role of reliable information as a necessary ingredient for us to remain self-governed and free."
--Source: Omaha World-Herald, August 26, 2001
Mix designs: Not your typical concrete either
"The engineers really threw us some challenges on the mix designs." Said Ben Ricceri, quality control manager for Ready-Mixed Concrete Company. He added, "Most of the (about 10,000 total cubic yards) structural slabs averaged out to be about 5,000psi strength, very low-shrink, non-air entrained mix design. The press table floor mix design was different, using a low heat of hydration mix and higher psi strength. In the entire building, we were responsible for the mix design and timely delivery of over 25,000 cubic yards of concrete (that's about 1050 loads total) because of the specialized type of production done there, that's a lot more concrete than you'll find in most buildings."
"Due to the tremendous amount of operational traffic anticipated in the completed facility, we wanted to protect that floor with our best shot," commented LATICRETE® Regional Manager, Frank Bianchi. "Upon reviewing the project requirements with the project engineers at HDR, I recommended that they consider using our best mineral aggregate floor hardener, EMERYPLATE FF™." EMERYPLATE FF™ has been used on many manufacturing plant floors over the years, replacing traditional metallic shake-on’s because of its toughness and higher resistance to abrasion. "I recommended EMERYPLATE FF™ to protect the high traffic areas from the many carts (1705 carts) used throughout those areas of the building. Because of the mix design used such little water, E-CON™ was an important product to help Phil's crew get the EMERYPLATE FF™ properly installed."
Floor hardening
"Our challenge was to scrub-in over 30 drums of SEAL HARD® on all the floors, all 227,550 sq. ft." said Don Gray, president of Industrial Coatings, Inc. He added; "Many of these slabs were already hardened with EMERYPLATE FF. Because of the time crunch due to the shortened deadlines, our crew had to get in, get done, get out and move to the next floor so that the next stage of construction could come in behind us. We used a 6-man crew with rider-scrubbers that we had customized for more aggressive scrubbing action in order to get the product into the top surface of the concrete slab in less time than by hand."
Frank Bianchi added, "Don's crew applied SEAL HARD® throughout this facility. It was used both as a stand-alone treatment for the upper floors, and a companion product on top of EMERYPLATE FF™. We have found that the one-two punch of EMERYPLATE FF™ and SEAL HARD® will provide the owner an extremely durable and long lasting concrete floor finish. In the less severe wear areas SEAL HARD® alone has proven itself to more than double a concrete floor's resistance to abrasion, with very low on-going maintenance required."