Courtesy Phinney Design Group
By Rod Bacon
The inclement weather much of the country has experienced this winter has been challenging for building contractors but they are continuing to move their projects forward.
Middle Grove-based Munter Enterprises, Inc. is no exception.
“Our people are tough and they’re holding their own,” said Vice President Mike Munter. “We’ve skipped a few days of concrete work here and there because we didn’t want to open up more ground for it to freeze so we’ve been timing that work. It’s slowing us down a bit but not stopping us.”
The company is moving ahead on projects started last spring and summer as well as working on new ones.
The steel is going up on Skyward Drive in the W.J. Grande Industrial Park for the 35,000-square-foot office/warehouse building for Ambrave Corp., a designer and manufacturer of advanced tactical gear for military special operations forces and law enforcement under the brand Direct Action and for outdoor enthusiasts under the brand Helikon-Tex. Completion of the $6.5 million building is scheduled for this summer.
The lot on which the building is sited is 10 acres, allowing for future expansion.
“The building is approved for up to 70,000 square feet and if they stay on their growth track they plan to build the addition within five years,” Munter said.
Also in the industrial park, Munter is building an 18,000-square-foot addition to Slack Chemicals’ existing 70,000-square-foot facility.
Headquartered in Carthage, N.Y., with facilities in Castorland and Saratoga Springs, the company produces ice melters, caustics/acids, and solvents/alcohols, as well as chemicals for swimming pools and waste water treatment, dairy, paper, industrial, plating, co-generation industrial, reagents, and food grade applications.
Steel is also going up on a 35,000-square-foot building for Fort Miller Precast in Greenwich. The building will house three large cranes used to manufacture components for bridges, highways, walls, erosion control, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) structures and custom products. The estimated completion date is May of this year.
In Greenfield, Munter is in phase one of a two-phase rebuild of the center section of Stewart’s Shops’ food and ice cream production facility. The 30,000-square-foot project is expected to take two years.
Munter said they are about 60 percent through phase one, which will be finished in June. They will then start phase two, which will take the project into 2027.
Nearly completed is a new branch of the Hudson River Community Credit Union in Greenwich. The 2,500-square-foot building includes a drive-thru and state-of-the-art Interactive Teller Machines (ITMs).
“Because of the demographic of the area, which includes the Amish community, we have included a hitching post and water hydrant in the parking lot for the horses,” Munter said.
Also nearly completed is a 25,000-square-foot building for Polyset in Mechanicville that will house their research and development department. The company manufactures filtration adhesives, expansion joint systems, protective coatings, electronic potting compounds, and advanced materials for cationic chemistry solutions.
In April the company will start an extensive renovation of the Malta branch of the Adirondack Trust Company. According to Munter, half the building and the drive-thru will be demolished and a new layout will be constructed. Currently, the entrance is on the side of the building. The new configuration will move it to the front.
“The Phinney Design Group created the plan and it looks really sharp,” he said. “There are some timber frame elements that will tie it in with some of their other branches.”
In Glens Falls, Munter is in the permitting process for a $5.5 million overhaul of the Glens Falls YMCA. Plans call for approximately 80 percent of the facility to be upgraded. This will be done in stages so members can continue to utilize as many programs offered by the organization as possible during the renovation. Because of this, Munter estimated it may take a year to complete the work.
Saratoga Springs-based Paone Architecture, PC, did the design work for Ambrave Corp., Polyset, Hudson River Community Credit Union, Slack Chemicals, and the YMCA.
Munter Enterprises does all the concrete work, steel erection, and envelop installation on its projects. They subcontract things like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC to local craftsmen.
For more information about this company go to munterenterprises.com.