Behlen marks completion of $45M project in Georgia

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Built in Brandon and assembled in the Eastern European country of Georgia, the grand openings of three indoor sports arenas were celebrated last week, capping off a more than year-long, $45-million project.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/02/2018 (2233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Built in Brandon and assembled in the Eastern European country of Georgia, the grand openings of three indoor sports arenas were celebrated last week, capping off a more than year-long, $45-million project.

While this was Behlen Industries LP’s largest project in its 48 years, the company’s vice-president and general manager, Sean Lepper, said it was but the latest in a series of grand openings the increasingly globalized company plans on celebrating overseas.

Behlen has two more builds underway in George and have a few projects on the go in Russia.

Submitted
The interior of the Gori, Georgia, recreational facility is pictured prior to last week’s grand opening celebration.
Submitted The interior of the Gori, Georgia, recreational facility is pictured prior to last week’s grand opening celebration.

“Brandon’s a well-known part of the world for people in that part of Eastern Europe,” Lepper said, adding that as the company’s positive reputation grows, it expect to take on more projects.

He credits a one-stop-shop approach and building process with giving them a competitive edge.

“By taking on much larger scope, we got rid of most of our competition and we’re having a much greater rate of success in those marketplaces,” Lepper said.

This latest trio of Georgia builds found recreational facilities erected in Telavi, Gori and Batumi.

“It went as well as expected,” Lepper said. “For our first time doing a full engineer, procure, construct project overseas like that, we are extremely happy with that.”

The largest of the three facilities has the capacity to host more than 3,000 spectators, while the two smaller buildings have a capacity for more than 2,000 sports fans, with each site also hosting a practice facility.

The three buildings’ components were constructed in Brandon using Behlen’s frameless building system, where structural panels stack together tightly, which helps keep transportation costs as low as possible.

The components were shipped to Winnipeg by truck in 60 container loads, which were then transported to Montreal by rail and shipped by boat to the Black Sea, where they were subsequently trucked to the three separate sites.

It’s integral that these components are flawless, since George is quite some distance away for problems to arise, Lepper said, adding that no serious problems befell these three buildings.

Once the components arrived in Georgia, they were assembled, largely through bolting them together, which Lepper said simplifies much of the on-site construction process.

Georgia Ministry of Culture photo
Dignitaries line up outside the Gori, Georgia, recreational facility, which celebrated its grand opening last week.
Georgia Ministry of Culture photo Dignitaries line up outside the Gori, Georgia, recreational facility, which celebrated its grand opening last week.

International projects such as these stabilize the Brandon workflow during the slower seasons, which prevents seasonal layoffs, Lepper said, adding that this “increases the stability of the work coming through, so it has a big impact here, so that’s everything from men and women in the factory to our salaried staff.”

The end results of the latest three projects in Georgia are structures the approximately 200 employees of Behlen can be proud of, Lepper said, likening the buildings to “palaces” within their neighbourhoods.

“They’ll really impact their communities locally, giving kids a place to really play and hold major sporting events,” he said, adding that he looks forward to future projects in Georgia.

The Georgian people have been “a pleasure to work with,” Lepper said. “They just have very good hearts and they’re welcoming people, so it’s a pleasure to work with them.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB

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