Coldbox Builders, a Canadian cold storage and food processing design builder, began construction to expand Sysco Corp.’s Windsor, Ontario, facility.

Since acquiring Bedell’s Food Service Distributors in 2011, Sysco’s Windsor facility has become an important hub in its distribution network and requires expansion to maximize operational efficiency. Despite the extensive renovation and new construction work, the 25,000-square-foot facility will remain fully operational 20 hours a day, six days per week during the 4-phase project.

“It’s an intricate project in that we have to keep their business unimpeded during the 4-phased construction project,” says Marko Dzeletovich, president of Coldbox Builders. “Every inch of this building is being affected at some point, so we really had to think out the logistics of delivering on time and budget while keeping their operations seamlessly flowing.”

The project has been designed to meet or exceed current food manufacturing and storage requirements. New construction will consist of a 17,943-square-foot freezer addition, 1,284-square-foot maintenance and additional auxiliary rooms and a 2,846-square-foot cooler expansion. Within the existing facility, substantial renovations and conversions include converting the existing cooler, freezer and dry space into one large dry warehouse area complete with new racking. A second freezer area will be converted to a cooler and connected with the new cooler expansion. The existing cold dock will be enlarged and a new cold dock area will be created complete with eight new vertical dock levelers and overhead doors.

Refrigeration will consist of a new Halocarbon system and the conversion of some of the existing equipment. The complete facility will also receive a fully automated wet and dry sprinkler system with an on-site water storage tank system.

All of this work will be completed in four phases slated to begin In November, with project completion set for September 2014.