P1 Provides Many Years of Single-Source Solutions for Haskell Indian Nations University
When you have a campus of buildings full of rich history dating back to 1884, system upgrades are inevitable. Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) in Lawrence, KS, began as an agriculture education program for grades one through five.
Today, HINU continues to serve the educational needs of American Indian and Alaska Native people from across the United States, and the only government boarding school that has evolved into a four-year university for Native students.
P1 has been part of the Haskell tradition for so many decades even our most seasoned field employees can’t remember how far back it goes! It’s fair to say it has been many decades that P1 - and the former Huxtable - have been providing construction and service facility solutions at HINU.
P1 Project Manager Todd Mihalchik notes that P1 has done approximately 10 large jobs at HINU in just the past four years.
“P1 Service and P1 Construction have had a history of facility service and smaller construction jobs at Haskell, but the University recently started major HVAC upgrades to multiple buildings,” Todd said.
SEAlaska, the GC awarded most of the work, chose P1 as subcontractor due to P1’s design-build capability and the quality of P1’s work.
“SEAlaska is fairly new to Haskell,” Todd explained. “The projects are bid ‘off-scope,’ meaning there are no prints, and the sub is expected to take projects from design-build through completion.”
Todd says P1 may do the design-build in-house, or partner with our contact at Hoss & Brown, who has done extensive work at Haskell over the years.
The relationship with SEAlaska began four years ago, and has led to multiple large jobs for P1 since – approximately 10 major jobs with a combined contract value of $13 million.
Some of those projects include: complete HVAC renovation of the library, dormitories 108 & 109, deferred maintenance in 12 buildings, retrofitting of bathrooms and other buildings and bringing them up to desired ADA compliance, two science labs including all new gas and waste, turning a shop building into a science building with all new ductwork, plumbing , and gas, and new deferred maintenance on the gymnasium.
The project currently underway is a four-building MEP project for HINU, which includes HVAC and electrical overhaul of two dorms, the administration/IT building, and an auditorium.
Pictured, clockwise from top left: Chilled water pump and buffer tank; air-cooled chiller; fan coil unit (FCU) in dorm room; ductwork for FCU in lavatory; FCU in mechanical room; domestic hot water heaters - FUN FACT, these had to enter the building through the window pictured, bottom, right.
“P1’s ability to perform MEP construction and fabrication was attractive to SEAlaska, since many of these renovations require all three trades,” Todd said.
The mechanical scope includes two chillers, three boilers, 12 pumps, two condensers and more than 200 fan coil units in all four buildings: Blalock Hall, Pochahontas Hall, Ross Hall and the auditorium.
Electrical Project Manager Jeff Luttman says the electrical team worked hand-in-hand with mechanical on the buildings for this project.
“If mechanical was there, so were we,” Jeff said.
The project involves a four-pipe system, a distribution system that contains both hot water supply with return lines and a chilled water supply with return lines.
The electrical team installed controls, main power, thermostat, and power to VFD (variable frequency drive) pumps and chillers.
In the Blalock building, electrical installed the main service, including the MCC (motor control center).
“Since it was a whole new main service, we worked with SEAlaska to coordinate the shut-down and re-start of the entire system,” Jeff said.
Since the mechanical teams had to remove a lot of ceiling to work, Jeff says the electrical team also replaced large portions of lights.
In addition to mechanical and electrical, P1 Service has played a major role in the HVAC upgrades, conducting start-up and troubleshooting.
Todd says he doesn’t see the work slowing down for P1 as Haskell continues to make updates to the campus.
“P1 is proud to be part of such a valuable piece of history in Lawrence, KS,” he said. “We look forward to this continued partnership.”
Project Teams
MECHANICAL TEAM: Todd Mihalchik, Project Manager; Wayne Foster, Piping General Foreman; Mike Farve, Piping Foreman; John Kraus, Sheet Metal Foreman; Bryan Biggs, Sheet Metal Foreman
ELECTRICAL TEAM: Jeff Luttman, Project Manager; Nick Keller, Electrical Foreman
