Mike Kerr, Former President of Hunt Construction, Is Dead at 81

Known for expertise in sports facilities construction

Michael D. Kerr, former president of Hunt Construction Group, died in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Jan. 25 at the age of 81. No cause of death was disclosed.

He built a successful career at the firm, serving as president from 1995 until he retired in 2004. During his career, he supervised the construction of numerous, high-profile professional sports stadiums including Heinz Field, Conseco Fieldhouse and the United Center.

“Mike was a builder,” says Daniel Peyton, executive vice president of Plaza Construction. “He was a mentor to many people, including me. I recall that when we were driving into Pittsburgh for the interview with the Steelers [football] organization for the construction of Heinz Field, he said, ‘How on earth are we proposing a team of 17 people for this?! When I did Three Rivers Stadium, it was just me, a superintendent and a plan boy!’ This industry needs more like him.”

Kerr earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in 1960 and later a Civil Engineering Alumni Achievement Award in 2002.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mark's United Methodist in Carmel, Ind., on March 14, 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Michael D. Kerr memorial scholarship at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, payable to the Purdue Foundation, 403 W. Wood Street, West Lafayette, Ind. 47907 or visit: http://giving.purdue.edu/MichaelKerrMemorial

Aileen Cho, ENR's senior transportation editor, is a native of Los Angeles and recovering New Yorker. She studied English and theater at Occidental College, where a reporter teaching the one existing journalism course encouraged her to apply for the LA Times Minority Editing Training Program. Her journalism training led to her first stories about transportation, working as a cub reporter with the Greenwich Time. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. Many of her experiences with engineers and contractors have inspired material for her alternative theater productions way, way off Broadway. For ENR, Aileen has traveled the world, clambering over bridges in China, touring an airport in Abu Dhabi and descending into dark subway tunnels in New York City. She is a regular at transportation conferences, where she finds that airport and mass transit engineers really know how to have fun. Aileen is always eager to hop on another flight because there are so many interesting projects and people, and she gets tired of throwing her cats off her computer in her home office in Long Beach, California. She is a very conflicted Mets/Dodgers fan.

Post a comment to this article

Enhancing Collaboration and Surpassing Traditional Design-Build Methods with Progressive Design-Build

Earn: 1 PDH; 1 AIA LU/Elective; 0.1 IACET CEU

Progressive Design-Build is reshaping large infrastructure projects by addressing key issues with the traditional Design-Build approach. We'll explore how PDB fosters collaboration between owners, design-builders, and design teams to develop a well-defined scope and budget, plus minimizes cost overruns and reduces liability claims.