During the COVID-19 pandemic, Memphis’s Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium was home to two attractions the size of football fields: the stadium field itself where the Tigers play and a Sunbelt Rentals structure across the adjoining “Tiger Lane.”
When the city of Memphis began to vaccinate adults against COVID-19, they quickly realized that they were going to need larger sites to ramp up vaccination capacity. In partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state of Tennessee, the city of Memphis made plans to create a mass vaccination site at the local stadium, and they needed a massive temporary structure to facilitate it.
With significant media attention on the project, local officials knew that they needed a supplier to perform well under pressure. The city had worked with Sunbelt Rentals before, so they trusted that Sunbelt Rentals could provide the structure in the quick timeline they needed.
The Challenge
FEMA selected Memphis as one of a select number of cities to build a Community Vaccination Center, where they would mass vaccinate the public against COVID-19. In the Memphis location, they planned for administrators to deliver up to 21,000 COVID-19 vaccines a week. Members of the Tennessee National Guard and more than 100 active military members were coming into Memphis to help facilitate the vaccine distribution.
However, the city didn’t have a building of the appropriate size and space to host the clinic, so “Tiger Lane,” a 15-acre outdoor park at the stadium, provided the perfect central location for the site. To establish the clinic, they needed Sunbelt Rentals to assemble a structure large enough to cover four lanes of cars, where administrators and local residents could stay out of the wind and rain while receiving their vaccinations. Sunbelt Rentals would need to assemble the structure over trees and other large obstructions located in Tiger Lane. And in less than two weeks, the clinic had to be up and running.
The Client's Structure Needed:
|
115ft x 312ft |
Protection Against |
Lighting |
Tables and Chairs |
|
Fans |
Assembly Over |
Quick Turnaround |
Our Solution
Sunbelt Rentals hit the ground running to install a 115-by-312-foot, A-frame structure across Tiger Lane. Trees lined the site location, making it impossible for Sunbelt Rentals' crews to lay out the trusses of the structure as they normally would. Instead Sunbelt Rentals' team flew the trusses over, using two forklifts to maneuver the frame so they didn’t damage anything at the park. When anchoring the structure, Sunbelt Rentals could not penetrate the ground of the site location, so they used 160 ballasts to hold the structure in place rather than staking it into the ground.
In addition to its ability to withstand wind and rain, the structure was designed to make the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines as easy as possible by having lighting, tables, chairs and fans. In spite of the site’s unique challenges, Sunbelt Rentals installed the structure in less than a week, even finishing the project a day early. By the time more than 100 members of the military arrived to help facilitate the community’s vaccine clinic, the structure was ready for them, and Sunbelt Rentals' crews were already off-site.
The Result
The city of Memphis was ecstatic with Sunbelt Rentals' solution, and a FEMA representative told Sunbelt Rentals that the structure was one of the best they had seen among their vaccination sites. The structure stood tall in the spotlight, receiving positive attention from local media outlets. With the clinic in place, the city was able to significantly increase their vaccination capacity and make appointments more accessible to the public. Thanks to the structure’s durability against the elements, administrators were able to administer COVID-19 vaccines in rain or shine without fear of needing to cancel appointments because of bad weather.
The Takeaways
Sunbelt Rentals has the capability of installing structures in any location, even over areas with trees or other obstacles. Under a tight timeline, Sunbelt Rentals delivers quality structures that will provide the coverage you need. Our structures can meet a wide array of needs, including needs as unique as community vaccination clinics. If you are searching for a temporary structure, Sunbelt Rentals has the crews, experience, expertise and solutions to exceed your expectations.
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