You’ve likely never heard of Jimmy Bendokas, but the project manager at Dimeo Construction is leading one of the most prominent construction projects in the state. Bendokas is overseeing the renovations to the Warwick Mall after a torrent of rain in March flooded the mall and forced its closure. He recently spoke with Providence Business News about the job and what the “new” mall will look like when it opens later this summer.
PBN: Can you briefly take us through Dimeo’s role at the mall? You’re only involved in renovating some areas, correct? How many workers are on site?
BENDOKAS: Dimeo is the construction manager for the common areas of the mall, and is performing all the re-build and renovation work in these areas. Dimeo is also the overall tenant coordinator for the mall. All of the 80-plus tenants and their contractors coordinate their work through our team here on site.
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All of these tenants are looking to get re-opened as soon as possible, and we assist in everyway we can. This includes coordinating the interface between the tenant-to-landlord and tenant-to-tenant areas, as well as any permitting requirements. We have a great working relationship with both the Warwick Building Department and the Warwick Fire Department, and both of these agencies have been absolutely great to work with in getting the re-construction started immediately.
The actual number of people working on the site varies, but during the initial clean-up, we had over 400 people working on the site. Now that the re-construction has started, all of the common areas and most of the tenant spaces are either under construction or close to completing construction, and there are over 200 people currently working on the entire site.
PBN: Can you shed a little light on what the renovated mall will look like?
BENDOKAS: There are going to be many changes and improvements to the mall. People will immediately notice changes in the food court and the main concourse. There will be all new floor tile throughout the mall common areas.
The food court will have new color tiles on the floor and the planters, and new topiaries in the planters. There will be four hand-washing stations inside the food court area for the food court patrons. The food court will have all-new tables, and the public bathrooms are being totally updated. The carousal platform is being replaced with an exact duplicate, and the rest of the carousal is being re-furbished. One of the biggest changes in the food court will be the totally new video wall. This new video wall along with additional viewing monitors will be a dramatic change from the prior one.
There will be a new color scheme in the mall, to complement the new color floor tiles. The new floor tiles are made up of multiple sizes and will have a very different look from the old floor. There will also be a brand-new information booth, community booth and all-new kiosks for the concourse. The mall has also decided to add comfort stations, carpeted areas with lounging furniture where mall patrons can relax while out on a day of shopping.
The mall has also modified some of the existing seating areas in the concourse, but not to worry, the big white clock is still right in center court, currently still with the time reading 1:15, the time the power was cut to the mall on March 30.
What mall patrons won’t see is the extensive electrical infrastructure upgrades that the mall is doing. While the floor is being torn up and replaced, the entire concourse and food court areas are having all of their underslab electrical and voice/data lines replaced. This will help better service the kiosks that are located in the concourse as well as the in-line stores. Of course these changes and improvements will only be complemented by the major renovations that are occurring at each of the anchor stores.
PBN: What are some of the challenges during a project like this?
BENDOKAS: All projects have their own unique challenges, but this one is very unique because obviously nobody had planned on the mall being flooded, so there weren’t any construction documents ready for the reconstruction process.
The rebuild in-kind portions of the project were simple enough, but the portions of the mall being updated and requiring a new design concept, well, that was a challenge. Knowing that the mall was going to be shut down for a period of time, the mall owners knew that they had an opportunity to do some cosmetic upgrades. The mall owners along with their designers worked quickly to come up with the new designs.
We have been moving forward with the new design work with very few construction drawings. Thankfully the finalization of the new designs, as well as the full cooperation of both the Building Department and Fire Department during the permitting process, has greatly reduced our biggest challenges.
PBN: The mall has been prominent in the news since the flooding. Any more pressure on this project than other ones? If so, how are you handling it?
BENDOKAS: Yes, the mall has been very prominent in the news, and the pressure is pretty extreme. We are on the project site everyday with the mall owners, and we know how important it is to get the mall up and running quickly. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have worked in the mall who are currently out of work. The mall wants nothing more then to get re-opened so all the stores can put their employees back to work as soon as possible.
Many of my friends know I am involved in the re-build of the mall, and no matter where I seem to go people are asking all about the mall, what is it going to look like, and more importantly, when is it going to be open so they can go shopping locally again. That puts a lot of pressure on us, but we remember that although we have a job to do, we make sure we have fun, too. Also, our team here on site realizes that we are all in this together, and we each are willing to help other team members if needed. The sense of teamwork really helps us work through the pressure of the job.
PBN: I understand Dimeo has a long history at the mall. Can you tell us a little about that?
BENDOKAS: Dimeo has had a great relationship with the Warwick Mall and its owners for decades. Dimeo built the original mall 40 years ago this coming fall (the grand opening of the mall was 10 a.m. on Oct. 7, 1970) and has been fortunate to have been selected as the mall’s primary contractor for each of the major landlord projects that have occurred ever since. I myself have been involved in numerous projects on this campus for close to 15 years now.
A number of years ago I was having a conversation with one of the mall owners, and I asked him what made Dimeo stand out in his mind. His answer was quite simple, availability and ability. We are there whenever the mall needs us, and we have been able to get the projects completed in the time frames given (even the almost impossible ones). It’s the proven performance of those two words that has provided us the 40-year relationship we have had with the mall, and we won’t be letting them down now.
