Fenton Construction Company Inc., the Warren, New Jersey-based builder of commercial, industrial, educational, sports, and religious facilities of all sizes and complexities played a pivotal part in the recently completed Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The company serves clients in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, extending across the country for select clients.
Fenton served as the general contractor for the project and spanned 12 months. Site work began in December 2015 with the foundations being laid in January 2016. As the general contractor, Fenton oversaw the foundation, building shell, floor slabs, exterior steel structure and walls, and roof systems, as well as the building interior fit out. All work was completed by January of 2017.
“The success of The Pingry School athletics center project is the result of an outstanding, coordinated effort by all those involved in its planning, design and construction,” states Michael Mulcahy, President of Fenton Construction. Also contributing to the project’s success were Pingry CFO, Olaf Weckesser and Michael Waelz, the school’s Director of Facilities; while Kevin Aitken, the Senior Sports Architect, represented CHA Companies, architects for the project; and Michael Virzi acted as Construction Manager on behalf of The Fulcrum Group. A well-coordinated team effort among the many different contributors generated a final result that was not only on time, but also within the budget constraints.
Fenton was directly involved in the design of the structure and worked closely with Butler Manufacturing™ to configure the building’s steel shell according to plan. Butler is the oldest and largest pre-engineered metal building company in the world, providing both design and fabrication of metal building systems for commercial construction. In addition to engineering and supplying the steel school building structure, Butler supplied its renowned MR-24 Standing Seam Roof system, which is recognized worldwide for its superior quality and maintenance-free performance.
Fenton’s interior fit out of the field house included interior masonry, aluminum and glass, metal stud drywall partitions, painting, overhead doors, carpeting, polished concrete floors, epoxy floors, ceramic tile, stairs, railings, signage and the Hall of Fame reception desk.
Formally opened on January 9th, 2017, Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center is strategically situated adjacent to the Pingry football field and track, and serves a variety of sports activities and sports training needs. The modern, spacious field house provides locker rooms for both Pingry and visiting teams along with a strength and conditioning room. In addition to two (2) full basketball courts and four (4) basketball side courts, there are eight (8) squash courts and ample room for fencing and wrestling events. The structure also serves as an indoor practice facility for lacrosse, softball and baseball.
Visitors to the state-of-the-art facility enter through an expansive lobby, which houses The Pingry School Sports Hall of Fame and is the showcase for the trophies that commemorate the school’s many athletic accomplishments. The lobby’s walls are constructed of Nichiha Illuminations Panel, a cementitious modular panel from Japan, which is used in combination with aluminum and glass elements to create a unique entry space. Adorning the entry are entire walls of life-size sports murals depicting past Pingry sports achievements.
Michael Mulcahy concludes, “At Fenton, our philosophy and mission is to construct buildings to a higher standard – the goals and dreams of our clients. We envision Pingry’s new field house serving future generations of coaches and student athletes as they write the school’s next chapter of athletic achievement.”
