Iowa Speedway
Location: 3300 S. 24th Ave. E. – Newton, IA
Job Description: New Iowa Speedway development project of the U.S. MotorSport Entertainment Corporation. Plumbing, HVAC, Design/Assist 5 infield buildings, an Administration/Maintenance building, 5 concession buildings and 2 large public restroom buildings.
Construction Manager: Neumann Brothers
Proctor Mechanical Corporation was pleased and proud to participate in the construction of a Central Iowa project near and dear to both their hearts and to the people in the area. Racing holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of Proctor Mechanical employees — and a ravenous Central Iowa racing fan base has been champing at the bit for a grand facility of this nature for decades.
The Iowa Speedway, a $30 million development of the U.S. MotorSport Entertainment Corporation, is a 226-acre motorsports entertainment complex in Newton, Iowa. As has been a Proctor Mechanical tradition since Earl Proctor founded the company in 1932, we were proud to serve the needs of our community by providing quality, excellence and craftsmanship to the Iowa Speedway project.
The Iowa Speedway is a first for the state of Iowa, bringing a car-racing crazy fan base just what they've been craving. It's also a first for drivers, as the first-ever, driver-designed speedway.
One of the most popular race car drivers in America, Track owner and NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace, will lead the Iowa Speedway team. The Rusty Wallace signature track is the first of its kind. Of the Iowa Speedway, Wallace says, "This is one of the only tracks around the country that's finally got the funding, got the right design group, got everything put together to make this a world-class track."
The complex has 42,020 permanent seats with an option for 40,000 temporary seats, concession facilities, pit and garage areas, ticket and administration office buildings. Planned events include auto racing and entertainment such as exhibitions, car shows, trade shows, concerts and other activities. The 7/8th mile, asphalt paved, oval motor speedway will include a 16-degree banking at the steepest point.
Proctor Mechanical Corporation was chosen as the mechanical contractor for the Iowa Speedway long before the first shovel of dirt was turned. We worked closely with the designers to assure the mechanical design would be both highly functional and economical. This follows our time-proven Proctor ProVision™ planning technique: We identify pitfall scenarios and resolve potential conflicts on paper long before we get into the field.
This project had been planned to begin building construction in the Fall of 2005 with the first race September, 2006. The green flag will be waved as scheduled – but building construction did not begin until March, 2006.
Proctor Mechanical met the schedule by pre-fabbing all the plumbing for the public restroom buildings. The Carrier systems for 156 toilets, 42 urinals, and 48 lavatories were completely piped and tested in our pre-fab shop. They were then loaded on semis and trucked to the job site. They were set in place and the walls could be constructed immediately.
An extremely "fluid" timeline, the project was constantly changing during its progression. One of the buildings was completely constructed and had to be disassembled and moved to another location. During the progression of the job, Proctor Mechanical was asked to perform work not in the original contract: to provide and install kitchen hoods, stainless steel counters, stainless steel back splashes, exterior storm sewer, exterior water lines and hydrants, exterior gas lines, and additional heating and cooling units. All this work had to be accomplished without moving the completion date.
The project is plumbing intense with concession areas, and public restrooms. The mechanical system in every building had to be matched to the building's use. A combination of furnaces, condensing units, rooftop units, PTAC units, unit heaters, baseboard heaters, split system computer room unit air conditioning units, exhaust fans, intake fans, heat pumps and kitchen hoods were coordinated.
Andy Vertrees, Chief Operating Officer of Iowa Speedway, took note of our work at the track, saying we went beyond the call to stay on time and on budget.
Work started on March 8, 2005. The race to the green flag for opening the track was a 451-day event. We stand proud with our award-winning pit crew as we help to make the Iowa Speedway a reality. The opening of the Iowa Speedway is another example of Proctor Mechanical exceeding our customers' expectations, as we have for 74 years.
