Temple-Inland® delivers right on time for the FedExForum.
The home of the blues and the home of the great barbeque is now the home of the Grizzlies. The former Vancouver-based NBA franchise made the decision to relocate to Memphis a few years ago. But there was a catch. The city would have to build a new arena for the basketball team.
Now three years later, in the heart of Memphis, stands the FedExForum, the new, state-of-the-art, $250 million home of the Memphis Grizzlies.
To call this project big - well, that would be an understatement. This enormous facility spans more than 800,000 square feet and is made of 230,000 bricks, 6,100 tons of structural steel and more than 2,000,000 square feet of gypsum board. And remarkable, the FedExForum was completed within budget and on time - in less than 2 years.
A dedicated team and on-time supply shipments were essential to the success of this project. So when Cleveland Construction, the interior prime contractor, needed a supplier they could count on, they turned to their sister company, Best Supply.
And when Best Supply needed around 2 million square feet of gypsum board, they looked no further than Temple-Inland.
“We have a good, long-standing relationship with Temple-Inland,” said John Small, president of Cleveland Construction. “We have used Temple-Inland products on many projects, including the Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, the University of North Carolina Women’s and Children’s Hospitals, the Environmental Protection Agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, Fort Jackson in South Carolina and Fort Bragg in North Carolina.”
But the size and timetable on this project could have easily tested the relationships among manufacturer, distributor, and customer.
“For several weeks we were sending three trucks a day to Memphis,” said Ed Marco, vice president of Best Supply, “And these trucks held about 23,000 feet of gypsum board. That’s a lot of board to deliver each day.”
Marco and his team counted on Temple-Inland to help the process run smoothly.
“Temple-Inland came through - they never wavered and were never late,” said Marco. “They had the huge quantities of product that we needed on time.”
Marco also relied on Temple-Inland’s UpDate online customer service system.
“When you’re moving this much product, it’s important to know where it is at all times,” said Marco. “Temple-Inland’s online system is easy to use and makes it easy for me to track my orders. That’s a big plus.”
As the trucks kept coming, Tom Gulley, project superintendent for Cleveland Construction, was ready and waiting.
“This was a very fast moving project,” said Gulley. “This was my first time to use Temple-Inland wallbaord, and I was very impressed. The quality was good and it was here on time. I look forward to using it again.”
While most of the gypsum board used to build the FedExForum was a 5/8" fire-rated gypsum board, two other products were used as well. DamageGuard AR was used strategically in high-traffic areas to protect against damage from dollies, food carts and typical daily impacts. And SilentGuard, a gypsum shaftliner, was used for elevator shafts, stairwells and area separation walls because of its two-hour fire rating and ease of application.
The city of Memphis proudly opened the doors of the FedExForum on September 6, 2004 for the world to see. When not being used for basketball, the arean will be host to concerts, family shows, ice shows, the circus and even pro wrestling. The arena is also home to multiple restaurants, a practice facility, and eight-sided scoreboard and even the Rock N’ Soul Museum.
The Temple-Inland gypsum board team is proud to have played a part in delivering the FedExForum on time and on budget.