Job of the Month
Minnesota Centennial Showboat, University of Minnesota

Once again, the stage has been set and the lights are dimmed for the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. Their new theatre, a 175 ft, 220-seat turn-of-the century vessel called the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat, built by the Padelford Packet Boat Company, is a recreation of the historic General John Newton Showboat which was devastated by fire in 2000.

Though the boat's facade is true to design elements from the early 1900's, the vessel contains technological advances unheard of in that day. One such advance is the radiant heating system, a network of Wirsbo hydronic tubing zip tied down to welded sheets of wire mesh, covered with GYP-SPAN® Radiant floor underlayment.

One perplexing issue arose before Advanced Surfaces, Inc., a Nixa, Missouri-based Licensed Applicator of Hacker Floor Underlayments, could begin the installation of GYP-SPAN® Radiant. How to get the sand, pump and gypsum concrete near the boat when it was anchored far from shore? The solution was unprecedented according to Jeff Hughes, Owner of Advanced Surfaces. "This was the first time anyone has set up on a floating barge which was moved out and tied to the showboat allowing us to mix the product and install it on the boat mid-river."

GYP-SPAN® Radiant was developed by Hacker Industries, Inc. specifically for use over radiant heating systems. Advanced Surfaces, Inc., installed 8,200 square feet of GYP-SPAN® Radiant in a mere 6 hours, creating an exceptional thermal mass and a smooth, flat, crack-free floor surface ready for the attachment of finished floor coverings.

GYP-SPAN® Radiant's strength was tested when the boat was pulled into dry dock for exterior finishing and pulled back into the water for its 1,040 mile journey by tug-boat up the Mississippi River. Throughout the journey, GYP-SPAN® Radiant remained crack-free.

Now complete, the showboat is docked at its permanent home at the Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, MN, adjusting to the extreme Minnesota temperatures with it's cost-effective, energy efficient radiant heating system.

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