The Thornton Tomasetti Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, a structural engineering firm has awarded a $9,000 grant to the California Polytechnic State University chapter of Engineers Without Borders for the construction of a $68,000 healthcare clinic in Camilo Ortega, Nicaragua. Cal Poly students will lead the design and construction of the new healthcare facility. Photo Courtesy of Engineers Without Borders The 1,500-sq-ft medical clinic will sit atop a 10-ft retaining wall on a very steep hill in the outskirts of the Nicaraguan capitol city of Managua. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The Thornton Tomasetti

The ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York raised $140,000 towards 67 scholarship awards for graduates of the 2009-2010 program at its 15th annual luncheon. An additional $63,000 came from other sources including the Manhattan College-Dr. Charles H. Thornton Award in the amount of $56,000 and the Contractors Association of Greater New York-John A. Cavanagh Award in the amount of $6,000 which requires a separate application but is still designated exclusively to ACE students. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" “We are quite pleased but we are not surprised. It’s consistent with how we did last year,” said Annika Smith,

As part of a $550 million capital improvement plan at the Empire State Building, renovation on the building’s observatory has begun with Aragon Construction of New York acting as General Contractor for the project, which began in late May. Along with JCJ Architecture of Hartford, Conn., Aragon is revamping the 86th floor observatory with completion scheduled for September 2010. Work on the Empire State Building’s observatory deck, part of a $550 million restoration of the iconic Manhattan building, was expected to be completed in September. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Refurbishment of the 950-sq-ft observatory deck will include both

Industry Faces  August 1, 2010 The Salvadori Center, a not-for-profi t educational organization promoting math and science education through explorations of architecture and engineering, held their second annual cocktail benefi t at Atrium Shops & Cafes located at 601 Lexington in Midtown Manhattan, where Salvadori raised approximately $575,000 and the Founder�s Awards for Excellence was presented to leading professionals. Pictured from left: Anthony M. Carvette, President & COO, Structure Tone; Priscilla Hammer, President, Ascend Communications; Daniel R. Tishman, Chairman & CEO of Tishman Construction Corportation; and Howard J. Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Associates. Patrick J. Mc Gowan of East Rutherford, New Jersey

The re-development of the Brooklyn Navy Yard has received a boost from a federal program designed to raise capital for economic development projects in high unemployment areas. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The New York City Regional Center has so far raised $60 million in an investment that will create 1,200 new jobs at the city-owned industrial park from 120 investors from China, Korea, Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina seeking to secure U.S. residency. The loan will allow the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Company to proceed with the $30 million Green Manufacturing Center, a 220,000-sq-ft, LEED Silver certified building. Construction

The second major eminent domain decision in 13 months for the New York State Court of Appeals has Columbia University poised to move ahead on a $6.3 billion expansion in the Manhattanville neighborhood of Harlem. Columbia University can move forward with its $6.3 billion expansion following a court ruling allowing it to seize the property it needs in Harlem’s Manhattanville neighborhood through eminent domain. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In a unanimous decision, the state’s highest court overturned an earlier ruling that prevented the state from seizing by eminent domain a small amount of property currently home to private

Construction on 920 Westchester Avenue, a 108,000-sq-ft middle and low-income housing complex located in the Hunters Point section of the Bronx, is scheduled to begin later this year. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The eight-story building is being designed by Meltzer/Mandl of New York and developed by Westrock Development of Yonkers, New York and will encompass a steel and pre-case concrete plank structural system with a fa�ade composed of prefabricated metal panels and brick. 920 Westchester Avenue will contain 108 rental homes, most of them two and three-bedroom units, 11,000 sq ft of commercial space, a small medical/ambulatory space,

A planned mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the 9/11 attacks recently received support as a Lower Manhattan community board and the Landmark Preservation Commission approved the proposal to build the structure on the site of a 153-year-old building just two blocks from the World Trade Center. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The proposal has drawn criticism from New Yorkers, including many family members of 9/11 victims, who feel a mosque so close to ground zero is an insult to the thousands who died. Despite support from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and many city council members, the

Polshek Partnership, which has been named for its founder, Jim Polshek, in one form or another for almost five decades, is now Ennead Architects. The new moniker, which is the Greek word for “group of nine” - a nod to the firm’s nine partners - became official in June. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" “We are changing our name to something that suits us better, and we want to broadcast that message to the world,” says partner Richard Olcott, FAIA. “It’s not revolutionary, but evolutionary.” Indeed, the 47-year-old firm, which has been planning the rebranding for a year and

Construction is progressing at The Residences at Palmer Square, the new luxury townhome and condominium community in downtown Princeton, New Jersey. The project, which is about one-third completed, is rising rapidly with on site-construction cranes lifting the steel infrastructure into place. Rendering Courtesy of Beckerman PR All of The Residence’s 100 homes will feature high quality fixtures and appliances as well as extra-high ceilings and elegant finishes and millwork. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The Residences is a culmination of the dream of developer Edgar Palmer, who in 1937 envisioned a European-style town square for the downtown that would