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General contractor Dan Wood of Indianola can talk about mudslides and knee-deep snow and still keep a smile on his face, and a construction deadline squarely in his sights.

Wood’s company, Wood & Co. LLC, is building the $1 million Van Wall Group showroom at the intersection of U.S. Highways 65/69 and Iowa Highway 92. He plans to have the steel, glass and brick structure completed by Sept. 1.

“It seems like it started raining the day we broke ground” in late August 2009, Wood said.

The project involves a new 8,000-square-foot showroom that will tie into what used to be the gymnasium of the former Hoover Elementary School and an adjoining office building.

Wood said he will be able to match the brick from the old school building for part of the showroom’s facade.

Initial plans also called for a wind turbine to tower above the new location, but that idea was nixed by city officials.

Van Wall will have a total of 15,000 square feet of space to showcase and service Yamaha and Honda all-terrain vehicles that it presently sells from a store about one mile east on Highway 92 from the new location.

The Perry-based company started selling farm equipment in 1977, but has expanded its product line to include a range of outdoor equipment at 13 stores in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. It is in the design phase for new stores in Ankeny and West Des Moines, with the West Des Moines location seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Indianola store is breaking a design mold for the company, Wood said.

“Most of our facilities are boxes,” Wood said. But Van Wall’s owners wanted to test a more contemporary architectural style with the Indianola store, he said.

The weather has provided the real test for Wood and the estimated 80 workers who have tended to various phases of construction.

In late December, as footings were being poured and steel beams were being braced, a 40-foot-long slab of frosty soil collapsed and wiped out foundation forms and steel. Crews worked into the early hours of the next day to shore up the soil. A separate retaining wall had to be built under a portion of the existing school building due to soil that was weakened by intense rain and then frost.

And last week, crews spent three days digging mud out of an underground storage area.

The owners have been patient, Wood said.

“They know what we’ve been going through,” he said.