When the producers of ABC TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” began looking for hometown heroes, the theme for the show’s sixth season, they found the Hill family in Geneva, N.Y.
Tim Hill dreamt of being a professional boxer, but that aspiration disappeared when he broke his back. No longer able to box or work in construction, Hill bravely put aside his hardships and disappointment, went back to college and earned a degree in social work.
Once Hill began working as a counselor for high school youth, he knew he could do more to make a bigger impact on the community. He began the Geneva Boxing Team, covering all the expenses necessary to train area youth to box. His backyard barn, despite a partially collapsed roof, served as the gym.
Though the Hills’ 19th century farmhouse desperately needed repairs, they turned their attention to Aleem Whitfield, an Olympic boxing hopeful who came from a family of 23 children. Hill and his wife, Michelle, took legal custody of Aleem, opening their hearts to him just as they do with their three children.
Three weeks before the “Extreme Makeover” crew planned to knock on the Hills’ door, the project’s general contractor,
Mahoney Design & Build of Canastota, N.Y., reached out to
C&S Companies of Syracuse, N.Y., for help.
While tight deadlines and high expectations are two things every contractor encounters, nothing could prepare C&S, a member of Associated Builders and Contractors’
Empire State Chapter, for the task of completing a home in just seven days.
“We had very little time to get everything ready,” says Barry Trimble, president of C&S Technical Resources, Inc., C&S’s construction company. “All of the contractors that were onsite completed LEED training before construction began so it could be considered a green building, so that was another time-sensitive issue.”
In addition to being part of the construction management team, C&S was actively involved in demolition, scheduling, LEED coordination, and crane and rigging management.
“I don’t think you could ever prepare enough for a project like this,” Trimble says. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever done. There were so many things we didn’t anticipate, but we were able to get everything done.”
More than 40 C&S employees and their families volunteered to build the 3,500-square-foot, five-bedroom home. The company also was heavily involved in the construction of the two-story, 2,800-square-foot gymnasium featuring a 24-foot by 24-foot regulation-size boxing ring. The facility was built at the site of the old barn, with locker rooms, office space, exercise areas and a lounge area all housed beneath four solar roof panels that generate enough electricity to power the gymnasium.
“The most rewarding part of the whole experience was to see the way it brought our company together,” Trimble says. “We hit the ground running and had folks working out there day and night. People just wanted to help out their community.”