Burke Lodge Holds Grand Opening
Posted on January 28, 2012
Williston makes way for another man camp: Burke Lodge holds grand opening By Daniel Woods Williston Herald Williston Herald
Burke Lodge, a new man camp is open for business. A grand opening celebration was held Friday afternoon, though the camp has been operational since November.
Burke Construction Group, a Las Vegas-based construction company, built the man camp primarily to house its own workers. However, the camp is open to everyone.
"When we first came up here as general contractors looking at the area, one of the first things we noticed is that there was a housing shortage which was causing a labor shortage. We knew that we had to crack that code way before we could be a successful general contractor," said Roger Thomas, division manager for Burke Remote Sites.
The man camp is how Burke Construction Group has been able to get a foot hold in the community.
"For us it's a key step, because as we came here over a year ago, we knew we had to solve our own problem, not add to the problem," said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of Burke Construction Group, Inc. "The precursor to us planting our flag in this community is this facility you're looking at."
Burke Lodge offers a pre-made boxed breakfast included in the nightly rate. For a short-tem stay the rate is $105 per night. Thomas said most of the guests stay for at least 30 days at a time, and for 30 days, the rate drops to $90 per night.
Each room has cable television and a lot of storage space, Thomas said. There is a business center, coffee available 24 hours per day and a free laundry facility.
Once a week a detailed cleaning is done on the rooms, and everyday, housekeeping workers empty the trash, straighten the beds and perform minor upkeep.
Thomas said Burke Lodge features simple, always clean accommodations.
"That's how we niche ourselves: clean and good customer service," Thomas said.
Housing for Construction Workers
Posted on January 1, 2012
Man camps are springing up across western North Dakota, but there's one that's offering an alternative. Instead of providing housing for the oil industry, Burke Lodge provides housing for construction workers. And just like every other man camp, it's filling up fast.
Burke Lodge decided to provide temporary housing because the owners themselves couldn't find a place to sleep.
"We came up here a year ago and were meeting with various people. We were invited to look at other projects and asked to bid on other projects. But we had to turn them down because we saw the housing issue up here and we didn't want to be adding to what was already going on," said Roger Thomas, Burke Construction Division Manager.
That's when they began talks on providing housing for themselves, as well as other construction workers in the area. Their new facility provides 224 beds, with common restrooms and a continental breakfast. Phase I with 112 units was complete in early November. And they just recently finished Phase II.
"As soon as people learned that we had this as an available alternative, we had a lot of requests and we were able to open up all phases. Now we're fully booked and moving forward," said Thomas.
Rooms are $90 per night for a month stay, $105 for a shorter period. Burke Construction is reserving some rooms for construction crews scheduled to come this spring. Burke Lodge is considering adding a third phase with a cafeteria if lodgers request it.