Western Specialty Contractors’ Peoria, IL Branch recently completed a year-long project to restore the leaking roof on the Peoria Civic Center as part of a larger $45 million facility renovation project.
The multimillion-dollar roof replacement was a significant component of the 43-year-old building’s overall renovation. The entertainment complex, which includes an arena, theater, exhibit hall and meeting rooms, had not been updated in 25 years. Western’s portion of the work included replacing roofs on the theater and meeting rooms.
Western subcontracted with Vac-it-All, Inc. to remove the theater roof’s 35,000-square-foot gravel layer. Western’s roofing experts then tore off and replaced wet insulation areas, which totaled about a quarter of the roof. Western then attached a layer of 1.5” Polyiso insulation and ½” gypsum coverboard to its existing BUR roof and new insulation areas to give the coating a clean, uniform surface and enhance the building’s insulation factor.
A base sheet was installed over the gypsum coverboard. Western’s crews coated the roof with a fabric-reinforced basecoat, followed by a final topcoat, Tremco Alphaguard Bio Plus, to achieve a 30-year warranty. Western also replaced the 18,300-square-foot roof over the meeting rooms.
Western also replaced damaged 24-gauge stainless counterflashing and installed new 24-gauge stainless drip edge at tear-off locations on both roofs. Additionally, Western replaced a pair of hatches on the theater roof with Bilco Model F-50TB roof hatches. Midwest Lightning Rods replaced the lightning protection systems on both roofs to complete the projects.
Western used its ingenuity and experience to overcome multiple weather challenges that threatened to delay the large-scale project.
“When installing a roof coating, the weather weighs heavily on production, including temperatures of the substrate, dewpoint, humidity and/or moisture on the roof surface,” said Western Project Manager Jared Osterman. “After losing multiple production days due to heavy morning dew or rain from the night before, we began tarping off areas the night before to achieve a dry substrate. We also used a moisture meter to confirm the correct environment to apply the coating during the cooler rainy season. A gazebo was used on the roof to give our workers shade during the hot months when the project first kicked off. We used hot tents on the roof to help keep the buckets of coating material warm during the cool nights.”
Despite the weather challenges, Western was able to complete the project on schedule and within budget in May 2024, to the satisfaction of the Civic Center Authority. Dewberry of Peoria, IL, was the architect on the project.
Have a project you need completed? Contact the Peoria branch today https://westernspecialtycontractors.com/peoria/
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures, including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology. For more information about Western Specialty Contractors, visit https://westernspecialtycontractors.com.