Project Update - Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center

As Cleveland enters the dog days of summer, the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center project is progressing.

From January through June, Independence Excavating demolition crews removed the former Cleveland Convention Center in the shadows of Cleveland City Hall, the Public Auditorium, and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in downtown Cleveland. The massive concrete structure was removed between St. Clair Avenue and the Cleveland Browns Stadium to 40' below street level. In addition, five buildings of the west block were demolished, mass excavation was completed to extend the new facility 70' to the South, and Lakeside Avenue was shored for 100' using steel girders from the former facility. With demolition complete, the site is getting ready for structures.

Turner Construction Co. and other follow-on trades are packed into the site in a hotbed of activity to start the new structure. Independence Excavating is an integral part of the team with a main focus on excavation for the new foundations and structures on the site. There is a variety of structural components including retaining walls, new walls, deep sewer collection pits, mat foundations, and some areas where the remaining structure is underpinned. The foundations are supported, excavated beneath, and extended to a lower elevation where the structure is underpinned. Our excavation and backfill crews will work together with the trades installing the new parts and pieces ahead of the steel superstructure.

With all these new structural components, and some extending well below the existing structure’s foundation and even further below the surrounding water table, the other main task for our crews was to lower the water table to allow construction, and then to maintain that water table below the structure so that the new structure can be built. In the end, a new gravity system will be built to maintain the water below the structure, which our excavation crews will help install.

Our utility installation crews will get a piece of the action as well, installing the new utility taps for the facility. We will enter all of the surrounding streets to bring services into various areas of the new facility. This work will entail working around existing utilities, as well as downtown traffic, requiring close coordination with the public and off-hours work.

There are a few components of demolition that remain, including the dismantlement of the shoring system that is beneath Lakeside Avenue while traffic is maintained on the surface. There will also be some column removal in coordination with the new steel structure that will support portions of the old facility as it is incorporated into the new one.

In all, there is no shortage of work for this new facility and Independence Excavating crews are excited to be a part of the construction team for this new feature in Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland.