Rendering of camp from Redskins website.

It may not be the largest or most complicated project Weldon Steel has had a hand in but it will certainly be one of intense conversation and interest among sports fans.

That the local company got the steel fabrication contract for the Washington Redskins new training camp facility in Richmond shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the company has been behind numerous projects that called for more steel and more complex fabrication.

Weldon Steel won the project in February, said company President W.K. “Kris” Neal Jr., and faced a tight deadline to fabricate the steel for the building that accompanies the training grounds for the team in July.

The steel that serves as the foundation for the building has been erected and the stairs, rails and glass have been installed. He said the field has been sodded.

“It’s just a great feeling,” he said. “It’s rewarding.”

The Redskins will use the facility, which will have offices, weight rooms, fitness areas and meeting rooms, three to four weeks a year for the next eight years, Neal said.

Neal looks over plans for another project.

It’s impact for the city of Richmond will be huge. “There’ll be hundreds of reporters and huge throngs of people coming here and fans wanting to see how (Redskins quarterback) R.G. III’s knee is. That will add up to a lot of money.”

The 50,000-square-feet building is certainly not the biggest the company has done fabrication for — The Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine, also located in Richmond, required 200 truckloads of steel equating to 3,000 tons.

That building is 13 stories and comprises the Massey Cancer Center, teaching rooms and operating rooms.

The company has done fabricating work at Fort Lee and Camp Lejeune as well as Radford University and the University of Virginia, including a championship squash facility.

The company’s work includes a new church in Chapel Hill on Franklin Street as well as work at WakeMed. Their resume includes multiple jobs at Kenan Stadium at the University of North Carolina.

“We don’t have many local buildings,” Neal said. “We’re trying to see if we can help at Klausner,” a new lumber facility opening in Enfield.

Steel awaiting fabrication.

Located in the industrial park where Kennametal and Flambeau are, the company has been in existence since 1987 and Neal has been with the company since 1992.

Neal credits the many projects to keeping a good name and doing good work in a highly competitive market. “When you do good work word of mouth is your best marketing tool. We’ve grown slowly over the years and have a great regional presence and great reputation.”

Employees are crucial. “We have great people who have a lot of pride in the work they do.”

The company’s extensive dossier may make it seem like jobs are easy to come by. Private sector construction has slowed and the most demands have been from public jobs. With the slow down the competition rises and comes from companies from Alabama to Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

The good reputation and prices help Weldon Steel, Neal said, especially with high profile jobs like the Redskins facility and VCU project. “A company that didn’t have the reputation and the track record wouldn’t get the work. You have to prove yourself.”