McCownGordon Construction recently broke ground on the $41-million Patterson Health Center medical complex in Harper County, Kan. Funded in large part by the late Neal Patterson, a Harper County native who was co-founder and former CEO of medical technology company Cerner Corp., and his family, the 62,500-sq-ft complex will bring together an existing clinic, a hospital and rehabilitation services into one place to combine a health clinic with various aspects of a community center. The space is planned and designed to be used not only for treatment, but also for education, prevention and complete long-term wellness.

“There are many challenges facing the future of health care in Harper County and other rural communities. The Patterson Foundation understands that success lies not only in innovation, but in collaboration among interested parties,” says Lindsey Smith, director of the foundation.

Gould Evans is the design architect, and Kahler Slater is the architect of record. The campus was designed to address the fundamentals of rural life, including changing demographics and the economic stresses facing many rural hospitals across America, according to Gould Evans.

“The last conversation I had with Neal was coincidentally about this project, and I know how important this community was to him and his family,” says Anthony Rohr, national managing principal, Gould Evans. “We incorporated every lesson we learned from Neal into this project, and there’s so much more to it than a collection of organized program spaces. It’s using a community health platform of ‘Get Well, Eat Well, Stay Well’ as an economic driver to improve a community’s health.”

McCarthy Building Cos. recently broke ground on St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in downtown St. Louis. The 120,000-sq-ft, $45-million aquarium is located in a former mall area and will have exhibits housing thousands of animals from all over the world. Construction is expected to be complete in summer 2019. St. Louis-based PGAV Destinations designed the aquarium and Lodging Hospitality Management owns St. Louis Union Station and the aquarium.