Ping Tom Memorial Park's $12.5-million fieldhouse, located in Chicago's Chinatown, houses a six-lane pool, gymnasium, fitness center, club rooms and a 3,200-sq-ft terrace that overlooks the city's skyline.

Large specialty contractors experienced greater gains than small to mid-size firms as the region's construction industry negotiated its road to recovery last year.

Forces of nature as mighty as a polar vortex and as miniscule as endangered mussels haven't waylaid work on Michigan's $274-million Karegnondi Pipeline, a new raw-water conduit that will snake east from the banks of Lake Huron to treatment facilities in Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilec counties along its 67-mile trajectory.

The nation's mighty industrial engine is beginning to rev up. The problem is that much of the activity, construction included, is occurring outside the Midwest, putting a drag on regional recovery.

The forward shell and sections of the cutterhead were first to arrive. Later came motors, hydraulic cylinders and other parts that were scavenged from other tunneling machines around the world.

The intersection of Clark Street and Wacker Drive marks the spot where Chicago's housing boom screeched to a halt in early 2008, a casualty of a looming credit crisis. This summer, the location will mark the latest chapter of the market's turnaround. Following a 10-year odyssey, crews are applying finishing touches to a high-rise that has swapped owners, occupancies and design concepts. For four years, the bulk of its 30-story podium—a concrete shell—stood idle after financing for the remaining 65 floors fell through. Related Links: Digging Deeper: Orangutan Sanctuary Builders See Forest From the Trees Digging Deeper: Fast-Tracked Pellet Plant

Many of the Midwest's top design firms saw mild to moderate improvement in revenue last year, though prosperity in the region wasn't on par with business growth in the South, West and Southwest.

It's no coincidence that the two largest projects to break ground in the Midwest last year involved Illinois road work. Employment conditions are dire in Illinois, and lawmakers of every stripe agree improved roads and infrastructure will not only make the state more competitive but create thousands of construction jobs. Image Courtesy of HKS Architects. Ohio State University currently has several projects under way, including the North Residential District Transformation in Columbus. Related Links: Missouri Puts Brakes on Cost-Share Program for Roads Transportation Projects Drive Construction Employment Higher in Illinois The combined value of the two projects—the new Elgin-O'Hare Expressway

This May, eight orangutans will move into their new home at the Indianapolis Zoo, where visitors will have a rare chance to get up close and personal with Asian great apes by literally hanging out with them. Workers are busy putting the finishing touches on the zoo's $26-million International Orangutan Center, which houses three buildings and 11 surrounding towers connected by a roughly 80-ft-high aerial cableway that allows the apes to move around the 2-acre exhibit and swing high above viewers. The project also includes a 60-ft-tall suspended gondola ride spanning 1,000 ft around the perimeter of the site, where

The new year will bring new opportunity to the Midwest, even as the region contends with such legacy issues as Detroit's bankruptcy and tighter environmental regulations. Midwest states are accustomed to privatizing public assets to fund public programs, but a proposed tollway linking Illinois and Indiana presents a first for the region: a major P3 project constructed from the ground up. Elsewhere in Illinois, road programs are generating thousands of construction jobs, the result of efforts by Gov. Pat Quinn. Another potential boon—hydraulic fracturing—may be facing a pivotal year in Ohio. The year also may prove a critical one for