Bomanite Cares across the U.S.A., Bomanite licensed decorative concrete contractors make a difference in their communities
Humanitarian, hero, and three-time heavyweight champion of the world, Mohammed Ali once said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Revered for his accomplishments in the ring and beloved the world over for his sharp wit and big heart outside of it, Ali’s legacy is that of The People’s Champion. David Edwards also enjoys a challenge and relishes the chance to give back. As the co-owner of Edwards Concrete Bomanite in Winter Garden, Florida, Edwards has been in the concrete business for more than 40 years. His firm specializes in decorative concrete applications and between the heat and humidity and Florida’s frequently difficult soil conditions, every job his firm does seems to have a few challenges.
“We do stamped concrete, exposed aggregate, polished, colored, and stained concrete,” says Edwards, who has been a Bomanite licensed contractor since 1989. His team of approximately 25 has been devising decorative concrete solutions across central Florida for four decades in service to theme parks, commercial contractors, and public institutions of all sorts and scales. “We don’t shy away from difficult jobs, and while I wear a lot of hats, I enjoy getting into the design side of the work quite a bit.”
When the COVID-19 shattered the world’s sense of normality in early 2020, Edwards was inspired to make a meaningful contribution to his community and quickly harnessed his team’s talents to put a little happiness in the lives of others. “My wife and I grew up in Ocoee, Florida and have lived here our whole lives,” says Edwards. “When the pandemic hit, we wanted to do something for the local health care workers who were putting their lives on the line for people in this community.” Edwards first approached Mayor Rusty Johnson about a charitable giving project he had in mind for the Orlando Health – Central Hospital in Ocoee, Fl. Once the seed was planted, Edwards and his team quickly conceived of a way to enliven the building’s entrance with a decorative token of esteem. In a group effort, Edwards secured material donations from his long-time local suppliers of ready-mix concrete, lumber, and metalwork to assemble the resources required.
The result is a beautiful patio garden next to the building’s staff entrance where health care workers can catch a moment of reprieve from the rigors within. A bold blue heart of Bomanite Exposed Aggregate Concrete in a glass finish is surrounded by blocks of Portland cement seeded with mother of pearl flakes and white chip granite. Strips of artificial turf segment the concrete sections to make the whole patio a refreshing pop of vibrant color that offers a warm welcome and a calm, quiet respite to the hospital’s healthcare workers. “We absolutely appreciate the healthcare workers on the front lines of this pandemic,” says Edwards with genuine satisfaction. “This resting area was meant to help them replenish themselves amid the stress and challenges of their jobs. We were fortunate to be considered an essential service in the early stages of the pandemic and wanted to show our support for the healthcare workers and our community.”
Tyler Balch is a second-generation owner of Texas Bomanite in Dallas. “Since the firm was founded in 1987, one of our core beliefs has been giving back to the community we serve,” says Balch of the firm’s operational foundation. Texas Bomanite employs close to 100 people and completes commercial architectural concrete projects across most of Texas from offices in Dallas and Austin. When the firm was approached about a small but significant polished concrete project for The American Fallen Soldiers Project in Addison, Texas, Balch knew immediately that their cause was worthy of charitable consideration.
A 501c3 non-profit organization, The American Fallen Soldiers Project honors and memorializes American military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice with an original, hand-painted portrait of the fallen that is presented to their family. The brainchild of artist Phil Taylor, each portrait is undertaken to provide Gold Star Families with a small token of comfort and compassion in their time of loss. When the organization leased a new office and gallery space in a suburban office park and inquired about a polished concrete floor, Texas Bomanite decided to do it at a discount. “They wanted a polished concrete floor with a black orchid dye to give the space a very high-end, museum-quality feel,” shares Balch of the scope of work. “Because of the condition of the existing concrete slab, the work involved a lot of patching and grinding to prep the floor to be polished. We felt this was a cause we would be proud to get behind, so we donated time and materials equal to about 28 percent of the total cost. With Bomanite you are getting the best of the best, so making this an affordable option for a very worthy recipient made everyone involved feel fantastic.”
In Aurora, Colorado Bomanite licensed contractor, Colorado Hardscapes, supported a feel-good project of a different sort. Founded in 1947, Colorado Hardscapes has been Front Range Colorado’s premier decorative concrete contractors since the industry’s inception. When they learned of a local effort by the Make-A-Wish Foundation to build a sensory garden and playground for a local 7-year-old boy, Colorado Hardscapes jumped on board.
“The City of Aurora teamed up with the Make a Wish Foundation and a whole host of others to develop a fully-accessible playground with a sensory focus at Red-Tailed Hawk Park near the child’s home. We knew right away this was something we wanted to be a part of,” says Project Manager, Christy Bol. The child’s wish of wishes was simply to go to the park to play and laugh with other children and making that dream come true was a joy and honor for all involved.
The 8,000 SF site features a sensory wall composed of a tactile composition of shapes, textures, and colors, a wavy walk that undulates like a roller coaster, and swings, spinners, and slides of several sorts. A Bomanite Topping Systems – Micro-Top XT was used to make the sensory wall pop with color, while a Bomanite imprint texture mat added a high-touch surface to the rising wall. Bomanite Con-Color was also used to stain the concrete to add swooshes of whimsical flair to flatwork surfaces.“We donated the materials and labor to do the wavy walk and stained concrete design throughout the park and did the vibrant, textured seat wall at cost,” says Bol. “We were also able to secure a donation from our concrete supplier, Aggregate Industries, for all of the concrete we installed.” Beyond the giving back, Bol shares that the project called upon Colorado Hardscapes’ artistic capacities. “There was only a sketch to start with, so our team got to be creative in conceptualizing the parts and pieces of this one-of-a-kind sensory wall.”
From functional to fantastic, these projects explore the many interesting and innovative possibilities in the world of decorative concrete while illuminating a common bond between Bomanite’s nation-wide network of licensed contractors. “From our perspective, we feel like we have been blessed to be a part of this great community-enhancing project,” finishes Bol. “Charitable giving is a great way to give back and show our commitment to the people and places our projects serve in a long-lasting, meaningful way.”
Written By Sean O’Keefe
There are few events in history that can create a rift in the space-time continuum of a community, a veritable paradigm shift that causes ripple effects worldwide. The death of George Floyd in May of 2020, and subsequent protests and riots, in Minneapolis is just such an event. Floyd’s death occurred less than a mile from the Target East Lake Street store, which was nearly destroyed, and the Third Precinct Police Station, which was burned to the ground, is directly across the street from that store. The loss of Target East Lake made it hard for the people in this south Minneapolis neighborhood to buy groceries since there were no other grocery stores within walking distance.
Target partnered with Nawal Noor, CEO of Noor Companies, a local Black-woman-owned General Contractor and Developer to lead the rebuilding efforts to complete Target’s fastest restoration ever. Bomanite Licensee Concrete Arts was contracted to be a part of the demolition of the damaged carpet, VCT and corresponding adhesives. The scope of that first stage was completed the last week in June of 2020. Concrete Arts removed approximately 110,000 square feet of flooring in a week running double shifts. Concrete Arts then left the site to allow for extensive repairs and changes to the concrete. They came back in on August 1st and had five weeks to polish the 90,000 square feet of flooring. Working 12 hour days, six days a week Concrete Arts finished in 4.5 weeks despite being at the epicenter of the social justice fight which subjected them to three separate shut downs due to further protests.
Concrete Arts installed Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems decorative concrete flooring using Bomanite Patene Teres to complete the redesigned, reimagined, and community inspired reconstructed store. The new store has a secondary entrance and a well-lit walkway from the rail station to help increase access and to address community voiced safety issues. The new pharmacy is located closer to the front of the store between both entrances so that elderly shoppers now walk a shorter distance to reach it. Acknowledging the diverse neighborhood, Target even added a greater variety of spices. The community asked for more food and more produce, and those sections were almost doubled. The significant changes to the store culture and the store environment were made to match the community concerns.
Concrete Arts earned the 2020 Best Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems Project Honorable Mention Award for this extraordinary project. As per Mike Dougherty of Concrete Arts, “As you can see from the photos, the damage was quite extensive, but we were able to make some pretty good lemonade out of the lemons we were dealt. Our company feels a great deal of satisfaction in helping this suffering neighborhood try to get back to some sort of normalcy.”
