MANKATO — As construction continues on the expansion to the Walmart distribution center just east of Mankato, work paused Wednesday for a ceremonial milestone.
The “topping out ceremony,” when the last piece of steel is erected on the main structure, is a traditional event that takes place about halfway through any project. It’s perhaps more important when the project is the addition of more than 500,000 square feet to an already mammoth building emerging from a former farm field.
That last beam sat among a gathering sea of workers in yellow safety vests and a six-spire tent, under which lunch was served. Representatives of Pike Construction Services and myriad subcontractors, as well as local and corporate Walmart officials, were to sign the beam before it was lifted into place Wednesday afternoon.
“Today we are celebrating the topping out of the main structure of this (perishable distribution center) project, completed 10 days ahead of schedule,” said Terry Stevens, executive vice president of Pike. “Hats off to each one of you,” he said to applause.
The Free Press reported in April 2024 plans to expand the refrigerated food distribution center from 425,000 to 1.025 million square feet to house perishables, more than doubling the size of the 2015 structure. Food passing through the structure will be distributed to 112 Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, said Cliff Mathis, director of design and construction for Walmart.
The shell of the building will be completed in the next few months, Mathis said, “and after that, we’ll go into the building and start installing all of the automation that will go into the building.
Plans are for a fall 2027 opening of the expanded facility, with additional automation allowing the doubling of the volume of traditional perishable distribution centers. The distribution center has continued to operate through construction.
“As you can understand, any time there’s a large project happening there’s anxiety what could happen,” said Taka Kuvaoga, general manager of DC No. 7079. “But the way this team has executed has allowed us to continue to operate over there, to service our stores.”
The Mankato expansion is one of four under construction. The others are at perishable distribution centers in Mebane, North Carolina, Garrett, Indiana, and Shelbyville, Tennessee. This is in addition to new builds in five locations in California, Texas, South Carolina, Illinois and New Jersey that are complete or underway.
With these distribution centers, Walmart seeks to stay ahead of changes in technology at the 4,600 Walmart stores, according to a news release. It is now the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. The addition and expansion of state-of-the-art facilities promises to enable greater speed and capacity through technology, while continuing to add jobs with opportunities to grow, the release said.
“The automation allows us to really train our associates to run this operation. Operate it and maintain that equipment,” Mathis said. “So we make sure that we provide training opportunities to our associates (so they) get the skills that they need to operate the equipment and automation within the building.”
The physically demanding positions in the traditional building evolve into more technical, skilled positions, he said. Walmart also works closely with local schools to find people with the talents to fill those roles.
Stevens, Kuvaoga and Mathis credited local government officials for keeping the construction moving while getting necessary permits. And as with any large project, there must be power to keep it operating.
“We definitely had to work with the local utilities on each of these projects. The power draw is the biggest thing that we have to work with, not just for the automation but these are refrigerated buildings and refrigeration systems draw a lot of power,” Mathis said.
Stevens credited the construction workers for reaching this point and thanked them for their work as the project progresses.
“There’s a lot of work remaining to be completed, but we’re amazed at what we have accomplished today,” he said. “There’s confidence we will exceed all expectations for the successful completion of this project.”