Dispatch Tribune 5/05

How’d He Do That? The behind-the-scenes scoop on Kevin Green Homes’ Extreme Brush with “Hollywood.”

By now we all know the story of Stephen Johnson and how his heroic efforts, both as a fireman and a father, earned him a lavish new home courtesy of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and Kevin Green Homes. But many who regularly watch the show wonder what really goes into the seemingly impossible task of building a custom home, complete in every detail, in five days and nine hours.

What follows is an insider’s view of how it all went down – and how the Johnson’s new home went up.

Kevin Green Homes was first contacted on February 22, 2005 by ABC. Three days later Kevin Green agreed to do the build. A week later on March 3 – a scant 29 days before the build would begin ­­– the initial meeting with ABC’s lead crew took place. Only then was Green told about the Johnsons and the full scope of his responsibilities. City officials and architect Rob Marshall were briefed. Marketing and non-construction event coordination fell to Times 2 Creative, under the direction of Tony Libra. Remember, all of this was taking place while keeping the family, and all of Kansas City from finding out.

Architect Rob Marshall had four days to design the house, incorporating all of the input he had received about the Johnson family. Kevin Green was busy lining up subcontractors, and in turn, those subcontractors were gathering support staff from other area businesses – in some cases, competitors ­– to gain sufficient manpower to get the job done.

March 11 had Green, Marshall and Libra experiencing episode #33 first-hand in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a long day and the three left Florida wondering just what they had got themselves into. Back in Kansas City, the clock was ticking. Just 19 days remained before Ty would bellow his good-morning greeting to the Johnsons.

In those next 19 days, hundreds of Kansas City area companies were contacted and asked to participate in the makeover. Companies like Artistic Designs, Bordner Roofing, Murray Insulation and Home One, Inc. eager to do whatever was asked of them. Steve Bouillon, owner of Home One, Inc., organized a task force of 50 electricians to get their portion of the rough-in done in 5 hours. Tom Murray, owner of Murray Insulation prepared his crew for a midnight to 4 a.m. installation. Greg Muckenthaler, owner of Artistic Designs organized his 65 employees and 20 volunteers into teams in order to make the deadline. In a normal construction scenario, each supplier has the structure to themselves to do their assigned task. At the Johnson home, it was jus the opposite. Plumbers, electricians, drywallers, roofers and landscapers worked sided by side, and in many cases helped each other to keep the project moving forward.

As the time drew nearer, Kevin Green and Rob Marsall had come up with a stunning design and several firsts for ABC’s hit show. The Johnson home would be the largest floor plan ever attempted in the history of the show.  Furthermore, a new basement would be incorporated into the plan. Previous episodes featured homes built on a slab – never an entire new basement!

Outside of the construction aspect of the makeover, there were thousands of details – large and small – that had to be dealt with. Tony Libra of Times 2 Creative directed as food and beverage vendors, barricades, tents, RVs, trailers, signage, identity badges were all coordinated and delivered on time. A VIP area had to be designated for special guests like Mayor Kay Barnes. Thousands of gallons of fuel, restrooms, hotel room, paramedics and even a dentist were produced to keep the show’s cast, vendors and volunteers up and running for 7 days. All this and more had to be procured for free and still keep the secret until show time. With the help of Bettina O’Brien of Reece and Nichols, over 50 Northland volunteers were on-hand to help with everything from construction to crowd control.

As you will see this Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. CDT on ABC, all of the construction and ground supports planning came together to produce one of the most successful builds the Extreme Makeover crew had ever experienced. Kevin Green Homes not only built a  house with a the largest floorplan, but he finished it ahead of schedule! ABC design producer Maggie Thomas said, “During the build every vendor performed flawlessly. There was not a major problem the entire build.”

“I am so happy, you cannot imagine it,” Green said when the Johnson family finally viewed their new home. And indeed, the whole city is happy. Happy that we have a man like Stephen Johnson in our midst who gives so unselfishly, and proud of the work that Kevin Green Homes and everyone who participated in this incredible project has accomplished.