NEWARK, N.J. –– Newark Collegiate Academy, a 63,855-square-foot charter high school, has celebrated its topping out ceremony, which was hosted by Hollister Construction Services. The school is located at 18-36 Norfolk St. and will be operated by The Friends of TEAM Academy Charter Schools. The school will feature a four-story classroom building with a two-story gymnasium/auditorium/cafeteria area. The construction is set to be done in spring of 2012.
HOUSTON — E.E. Reed Construction has broken ground on the $20 million Church Without Walls Queenston campus at 5725 Queenston Blvd. in Houston. The project will consist of a 94,000-square-foot sanctuary, a 10,000-square-foot chapel, and a 43,000-square-foot youth/children classroom building. The Church Without Walls has three locations with more than 20,000 members in the Houston area. Construction of the Queenston campus is expected to be complete in June 2012.
MILWAUKEE — The groundbreaking will be held tomorrow for the new Graduate School of Public Health for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The project is located within The Brewery Project, Zilber's redevelopment of the former Pabst brewery. Construction will include the redevelopment of an existing manufacturing building, which has already commenced, as well as the construction of an adjoining building. The new Graduate School of Public Health will contain approximately 60,000 square feet of space. Completion is expected in fall 2012.
WHEELING, ILL. — Construction has commenced for a new community center at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, located at 181 W. Dundee Road in Wheeling. The project will include a 9,970-square-foot building containing meeting space, banquet space and a full kitchen. Completion is expected later this summer. The project team includes Woodridge, Ill.-based general contractor Morgan/Harbour Construction and architect Ruben L. Anastacio & Associates.
SAN MARCOS — Morris Architects has designed the $43 million state-of-the-art performing arts center that has recently broken ground at Texas State University-San Marcos. The complex features a 400-seat proscenium theatre with fly tower and a 300-seat music recital hall. The performing arts center faces University Drive and will include a 450-car parking garage.
DENVER — The Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District celebrated the completion of “The New North,” an $18.5-million, privately funded streetscape renovation project, with a free festival and concert on Sunday. “The New North” project included new landscaping, as well as a variety of water, lighting and energy conservation efforts. The BID also renovated Fillmore Plaza and upgraded its infrastructure.
ST. LOUIS — Construction is complete for the Missouri University of Science and Technology's new Kummer Student Design Center. The $2.75 million project consisted of the redevelopment of a former bread factory into a 23,000-square-foot facility containing space for the school's design teams as well as retail space.
SEAGOVILLE — Cadence McShane Construction Co. has been selected by the Dallas Independent School District (ISD) to complete the new Seagoville North Elementary School. The 106,462-square-foot elementary school will support 810 pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students and will be located on a 14-acre site at 1906 Seagoville Rd. in Seagoville. The facility will be constructed as an environmentally sustainable school. The new school is part of the 2008 Dallas ISD Bond Program, a $1.3 billion, multi-phased capital improvement plan. The program includes the construction of 14 new schools, 13 school additions and miscellaneous efforts to improve technology, science laboratories, meal service and sports complexes.
CHICAGO — The University of Chicago is developing the new William Eckhardt Research Center, a $215 million project located on campus on the site of the current Research Institutes Building. The structure, along with the Low Temp Building and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Center, will be demolished to make way for the 265,000-square-foot Eckhardt Center. The new building will contain five stories above grade and two below grade. It will feature laboratories, offices and conference rooms for the Division of Physical Sciences. A bridge will connect the new building to the existing Accelerator Building. In addition, the new Institute of Molecular Engineering will be housed within the Eckhardt Center. Thornton Tomasetti is serving as structural engineer of record.
HOUSTON — Turner Construction has broken ground on two new Houston Independent School District (ISD) campuses. Construction of Carnegie Vanguard High School began in May, while construction got underway for Lockhart Turner Elementary School this month. The 98,000-square-foot Carnegie Vanguard High School will serve 600 gifted students in grades 9 through 12. Carnegie is the only high school in the Houston ISD Vanguard program exclusively dedicated to students gifted in academics. Located at 1051 Taft, the new high school sits on the site of the former Carnegie Elementary School that was built in 1963. RdlR Architects provided design services for the project. Meanwhile, Lockhart Turner Elementary School is an 84,500-square-foot replacement school serving 750 early childhood through grade 5 students. The project consolidates students from both Lockhart and Turner elementary schools. HarrisonKornberg Architects provided design services for this project, which is scheduled for completion in April 2012. Both projects are seeking LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.