Lions Shelter Down

Victoria Lions ready for groundbreaking demolition at the Lions north shelter.  L-r:  Jim Crowley, Ray Notermann, Steve Reus, Leroy Worm, Jerry Beneke, Jerry Schmieg, Mel Hazelwood, Matt Bergmann, Brent Romenesko, Al Orsen, Loane Burau.

The west open-air section of the Lions Shelter on 82nd Street went down on Friday morning, August 25th.

Troy Poppitz of Poppitz Construction, Chaska, ran his backhoe like it was a human appendage attached at the shoulder.

He clawed into the shelter at 7:50 a.m.

A Poppitz dump truck brought in a load of dirt to weigh down the lumber for highway travel, so it wouldn’t spill into traffic.

The truck — then filled with wood, shingles, and metal debris — hauled away its first of three timber loads at 8:40 a.m. to Dem-Con in Shakopee.

Dirt was piled on top of each load.

Prior to demo, Troy had cut into the roof at the juncture with the concessions part of the building

It was 10:20 a.m. that morning when Troy slammed into the cement floor of the shelter and broke it apart like a butter brickle candy car.

How did Troy pick up his backhoe finesse?  “He just picked it up,” said Mike Poppitz, his father who stopped by to see some of the demolition in progress.

Soil was then excavated to get below the footings, and five new helical pilings were drilled into the ground by Piling Systems of Norwood Young America.

According to Allan, the Lion who created design drawings so the pavilion can be built and who has been getting bids and coordinating contractors, “The bid was to go down 30 feet, but one pier was 60 feet down and the others in the 40 to 50-foot range, into the mostly soft clay, to each have a 35,000 lb. bearing capacity.”

Allan explained, “The original overhead shelter had the rafters running parallel and were nonbearing on the wall.  The new 50-foot trusses will be a significant load, with bearing on the west wall of the concession building.”

Allan said that when completed, hopefully by next spring, the new year round facility will seat 250 people.  The old hall only seated 150.  “Eventually we’ll upgrade the kitchen and it will be one fine facility,” he said.

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