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Celina Tent takes debris from the demolished Celina Primary School and crushes it into gravel to help build the foundation for its consolidation and logistics yard on Thursday.
CELINA - Celina Tent is using rubble from the demolished Celina East elementary school to expand its consolidation and logistics yard on the east side of the company's campus to accommodate heightened production.
Once completed, the logistics hub - also to be known as "the smartest parking lot in Mercer County" due to its composition of former school materials - will enable the company to enlarge its presence on the global stage, said company marketing director Jared Liette.
Celina City Schools is in the midst of a nearly $130 million building project. Located at 615 E. Wayne St., Celina Primary School, formerly known as Celina East, was abated and laid to waste this summer to make way for the new grades 7-12 facility.
Celina Elementary School, previously called Celina West, is temporarily housing students in grades 4-6 as the Celina Intermediate School undergoes renovation. It, too, will eventually be razed.
Contractors are ahead of schedule and the CIS will be ready for occupancy on Dec. 18, school facilities director Phil Metz said this week. Students in grades 4-6 will relocate there on Friday, Jan. 10, after Christmas break, according to superintendent Brooke Gessler.
School building construction manager Peterson Construction reached an agreement to stockpile untold loads of demolition waste at Celina Tent's sprawling campus along State Route 29.
In turn, Celina Tent will use the materials to expand its logistics yard, which is used to stage, pack and ship shelters and accessory products destined for locations around the world. The yard's size will be increased from 6 to 9 acres.
"We're getting a parking lot out of it, they're getting hopefully a lower cost to the school system," said Celina Tent President Jeff Grieshop.
Celina Tent takes rubble and crushes it into gravel.
On Thursday afternoon, another contractor using heavy equipment began breaking down the debris.
"They're taking all the concrete, gravel, chopping it up ... and there's a big magnet in there that's separating the scrap," Grieshop pointed out.
The purified materials extracted through the process will be used to establish a 20- to 24-inch base to support the company's equipment, including forklifts weighing 85,000 pounds that transport 20- and 40-foot-long shipping containers, with a combined
load of up to 140,000 pounds, according to Liette.
"A typical driveway base is probably 6 to 8 inches. This is going to be 20, 22, 24 inches by the time it's all said and done. It's a great base for us so the forklift doesn't sink," Grieshop said.
Liette added that the expanded logistics yard will enhance Celina Tent's reputation for having quick-ship inventory.
Celina Tent manufactures and distributes tents, shelters, tarpaulin, ducting and military vehicle accessories worldwide. Its products are used in government, rental and hospitality industries.
It has provided products for numerous federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, as well as hospitals, universities and rental companies.
Almost all of the work, from design and engineering to metal fabrication and manufacturing, takes place at Celina Tent's campus of multiple facilities, together amounting to 285,000 square feet. Today it has about 90 employees, Grieshop said.
Celina Tent relocated some of its staff from the St. Marys Square Business Complex to its latest 100,000-square-foot fabric manufacturing addition at the Celina campus. Grieshop said the move and expansion have resulted in greater efficiency.
Correction:
Celina Tent's marketing director is Adam Liette. The error was made in reporting.
Celina Tent's expansion is located on the east side of its campus and will increase acreage from 6 to 9 acres.
