Multifamily - Hotels
The Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa
Point Clear, Alabama
Doster Construction Company served as construction manager for the Retirement Systems of Alabama on the two-phased repair project to the Grand Hotel in Point Clear. The historic resort deemed the "Queen of Antebellum Southern Resorts," endured significant damage from Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005. Because the project began just days after the August 29 storm surge, Doster was faced with many challenges usually not present in these unique projects, such as availability of gasoline, power, travel and hotel rooms for workers.
Phase I, completed in seven months, involved the removal of debris and saturated flooring, walls, furniture and other finishes from all the buildings on the resort property. This included a marina, the spa, a pool, the Main Hotel, the North Bay House, the South Bay House, the Conference Center, various maintenance buildings, administrative buildings and piers. Phase II, scheduled for completion after one year, consisted of repairing the buildings that sustained the greatest amount of damage.
Since three quarters of the resort face the Mobile Bay, the majority of the damage was water damage; even the lobby was covered by eight feet of water. An additional challenge included mold. All buildings were monitored 24 hours a day for humidity levels and all finishes were sprayed with chemicals to prevent the growth of mold. Total, approximately 17,530 yard dumpsters full of debris were removed.
Doster completed this project on time despite a huge growth in scope which included replacing the wood structure and subflooring of the historic Main Building, adding block fire walls in the crawl space between the public areas and guestrooms, and adding drywall fire wall doors and ceilings on two floors, and the attic. Sprinkler heads were also added to the four buildings, replacing fire hydrants, and adding a back flow preventer to the main water line.
This project was the recipient of South Central Construction magazine's Award of Excellence in Hurricane Reconstruction in 2007.
