It was the best birthday present she had ever received, Janice Coats said.
For Coats, who is newly 92 and uses a walker to get around, it was difficult to get up and down her front porch steps.
But now, thanks to some volunteers who started helping others like Coats in Little Rock and North Little Rock 30 years ago, her life is a little easier.
"I thank the Lord for it," she said of the plywood ramp she now has to help her leave her home for church and visits to the doctor.
In 1987, a group of mostly AT&T retirees started meeting nearly every Wednesday to build ramps for people who use walkers and wheelchairs. Three years later, the Americans with Disabilities Act passed, requiring most businesses to install ramps. But many people still didn't have access to their own front doors.
"You think about this: Someone who's [in a wheelchair], they put themselves at risk every time they attempt to leave," said David Shatley, the group's construction coordinator.
Not all families can afford to install a ramp, and members of the AT&T Pioneers saw that need as well as an opportunity to make use of their free time after retirement.
The group now consists of more than 30 volunteers and has built more than 1,250 ramps, at a rate of about 40 per year.
Demand is steady. At any given time, Shatley said, the group has two to six ramps on its to-do list.
The basic frame is standard and complies with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, but each ramp is unique and specific to the person's home, he said.
"You tend to remember every one of them," Shatley said of the ramps and their grateful recipients.
The materials for each ramp cost from $350 to $1,000. Community development block grants in Little Rock and North Little Rock fund the projects.
"The government can only do so many things, and we've got to depend on our people to contribute, to volunteer," Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said at a ceremony honoring the group last week.
Not all of the volunteers are AT&T employees, Shatley said. Some retirees happen to pass by while the group is working and want to know if they could help, too.
"We'll take anybody that wants to come out and that wants to help," Shatley said. The group now includes retirees from CenterPoint Energy and the Little Rock School District.
Ramp construction can begin as early as 5:30 a.m., and when the volunteers finish a project about 9 a.m. or 10 a.m., they usually go to breakfast at Homer's Restaurant or another diner-style restaurant, former construction coordinator Gene Butler said.
Butler said he enjoyed working with the crew, even on projects that were sometimes "a comedy of errors," resulting in minor injuries to group members. The work was always rewarding, he said.
"It's just a really good group," he said. "Being retired is good, but it's nice to be able to contribute."
Metro on 08/03/2017
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Wednesday is ramp day for group - Arkansas Online
Bigger bars are a new construction trend, according to Rob Mescolotto, founder and owner of D.C.-based Hospitality Construction Services.
Jim Cuddy and Mathew Lynch
Construction companies do more than build restaurants. The good ones are educated in many different aspects of the industry, from working with architects to analyze the logistics of a space to determining the viability and resourcefulness of different finishings and materials.
We make peoples dreams come true all while maintaining a budget, says Rob Mescolotto, founder and owner of D.C.-based Hospitality Construction Services.
Mescolotto, whos currently building a sushi kitchen and rehabbing a late-1800s building into a brewery, helped outline five aspects of restaurant construction to keep in mind when youre getting ready to build.
1. More renovations, less ground-up D.C. is an established city and there isnt much space for new construction. So Mescolotto has found himself working on a lot of renovation projects, such as the Mad Fox brewery, where hes pulling apart a building thats already been redone three times and has layer upon layer of finishings.
He recommends keeping your options open and not getting stuck on a particular building that may have caught your eye. Hes escorted restaurateurs to more than 100 properties before they decided on one, looking at each from a construction perspective. Some are monetarily burden, he says, adding that few restaurateurs are able to look beyond the faade. Nobody cares about things they cant seeelectrical wiring, HVAC, he says. With a new building, that stuff is pretty easy, but with renovations I often have to go back and tell them their allowance needs to be higher. With renovations, a lot of buyers are ending up in as-is conditions.
2. Ensure you stay on budget One thing restaurateurs understand well is their budget. A good construction company understands that if he cant meet the restaurateurs budget from the beginning, hes already putting the project in jeopardy.
As an example, Mescolotto cites Heartpinewood, an often-desired finish due to its strength and good looks. But he claims Cypress serves the same purpose and is just as beautiful, yet at a much lower cost.
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5 things you need to know about restaurant construction ...
You have reviewed the bids and settled on a commercial general contractor for your restaurant construction project. Now you cant wait to see the project break ground. This is a good time to consult with the general contractor on the construction schedule, a process you can be as involved in as you like.
Although experienced restaurant developers and operators understand construction best practices, if you are new to opening a restaurant, you may never have created or participated in creating a construction schedule before. This article includes tips and general information to help you develop a restaurant construction timeline, as well as to monitor the progress of such a schedule, based on professional experience.
A good rule of thumb when it comes to restaurant construction is to expect the project to take up to 4 to 6 months to complete. In reality, it usually requires up to 4 months to build a restaurant. It takes 2 months to build out space and install materials for a carry-out establishment, 12 weeks to build a fast-casual restaurant and 4 months to build a full-service, casual or even fine-dining restaurant.
On the other hand, a contractor willing to work multiple shifts in a day can complete your restaurant construction project in as little as one month. Be wary, however, of television shows that depict restaurants being built in a day this is strictly an effect of TV, and not a realistic possibility.
Your construction timeline will vary according to many other factors, including site specifications, weather conditions, the size and unique degree of difficulty of the planned structure, scheduling and communication among you, the contractor, subcontractors and those delivering materials, your experience in working on such projects, the complexity of architectural plans, changes made as the project moves along and the knowledge and experience of your contractor and subcontractors, as well as the sizes of their respective crews.
However, be aware that even before the dirt begins to move, your restaurant construction project is in motion, with the general contractor beginning the permitting process and ordering what are typically long-lead-time goods such as flooring, lighting and HVAC roof units. Generally, it takes 4 to 6 weeks for an architect to create drawings, up to 3 to 4 months for the permitting process to be completed and about 2 weeks to conclude the bidding process.
Hopefully your contractor has performed a site survey, including a conducting a building code review, and is now fine-tuning a detailed project schedule.
Getting your local and/or state building inspector to review and sign off on your preliminary plans is a must. Your space or plans may require modification to satisfy health and fire code requirements. Regulations cover everything from the required distance between food preparation areas and disposal drains to the installation of grease traps and vents. It isnt a bad idea to keep printed copies of your areas rules and regulations on hand for the contractor and subs to refer to while working on your project.
Nearly all restaurant construction schedules depend on the same basic factors, which include the restaurants size; whether it is a chain or independent establishment; how much equipment will be installed in the back of the house; how prepared and organized you are in terms of delivery dates for fixtures, furnishings and equipment; and the types of finishes that will be used in the building.
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How to Develop a Successful Restaurant Construction ...
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Restaurant construction