Companies pitch in to remodel Warwick family’s home

Building a house in 106 hours requires a lot of things, including skilled workers – and lots of them – teamwork and no doubt some good luck.
Project 523, as the recent Warwick home construction project that drew large crowds came to be called by the ABC television station that led the project, had another indispensable element: hundreds of local volunteers and businesses donating time and materials.
“It really was a 21st-century barn-raising,” said Paul Fleming, president and CEO of Fleming Communications, one of the project’s three partners.
In February, the Silva family of Warwick became the first Rhode Island family to be selected for the television show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” The five-year-old television program features a family that has been nominated by its community and chosen to receive a new, custom-built home.
More than 150 businesses, most of them local, joined in the effort, including CVS Caremark (which paid off the family’s old mortgage), Dunkin Donuts, Chelo’s Hometown Bar & Grille and Benny’s, as well as lesser-known names including Wayne Electric, JT’s Lumber, and Atlas Lock & Security.
Some businesses – CVS, among them – had preexisting relationships with the show. But for others, it was their first experience.
Although the episode won’t air until May 4, businesses across the region have received a lot of publicity through local media coverage. Fleming says the project’s Web site has received over 1.8 million hits.
“People are saying, ‘we saw you on TV’,” said Kurt Poulton, president of Portsmouth-based East Coast Construction, which supervised the demolition of the Silva’s old home and foundation, and installed a state-of-the-art, precast concrete foundation—all in just 20 hours.
While visibility is certainly a fringe benefit for companies that got involved, it wasn’t what motivated most companies and volunteers who joined the effort.
“There isn’t a soul that wasn’t thrilled to be part of it,” said Wickford-based Hali Beckman, who contributed landscape design services for the project.
Fleming says what he enjoyed most was doing something for the community and for the family, and the camaraderie among everyone involved.
“We were all pulling together as part of a team,” he explained.
Poulton himself came to help, like many company leaders, and brought with him 15 employee volunteers – roughly one-quarter of his work force.
The owner of a fencing company, Fence Tech, short on employees in the off-season, brought his family to help.
With such a complex project, volunteering was no simple task, either. Beckman explains that in addition to designing the landscaping plan, she also had to source the material.
“Everything had to be donated,” she said. That included the driveway and walkways, as well as a pergola and a tree house. Because of the winter weather, DaPonte’s Landscaping of Bristol arranged to store four inches of topsoil at room temperature in a nearby warehouse.
Once the Silvas were chosen, ABC contacted Portsmouth-based Oldport Homes, a real estate developer, looking for a local partner who could pull off such a demanding project. Oldport in turn brought in Fleming, to manage strategic communications, and the effort’s other main partner, Blount Bennett Architects of East Providence, to design the new home.
Altogether, the “Extreme Makover” project drew contributions of labor and materials valued at more than $750,000, according to Jonathan Caron, vice president of development at Oldport Homes. The New England Shingle-style house on Yucatan Drive was completed at the end of February.
Aside from lack of sleep, Caron cited ambitious trim work and complex kitchen cabinetry as among the biggest challenges. “But,” he said “six weeks of planning before the gun went off really helped. When you have to build a house in four days you can’t afford any surprises.”
Building any house in New England in winter can be challenging, even with the best of planning. That’s where some luck comes in handy.
“Fortunately it didn’t start snowing until the last shingle was on,” said Caron, who was joined by other Oldport staff members who volunteered for the project.
He admits that Oldport’s central role in the project has raised the company’s local profile.
“Everybody knows who we are now,” he marveled.
But like most of the businesses involved in the effort, Caron says what he enjoyed most was the opportunity to help a family in need.
“The community really stepped up,” he said. •