Jack Schaefer, a Nevada construction industry leader, died on April 15 of pancreatic cancer while in hospice care in Las Vegas. He was 64. Schaefer had served various leadership roles for the Las Vegas chapters of the Associated General Contractors and Nevada Contractors Association. Schaefer was a well known labor negotiator who also sat on several local construction union trusts and apprenticeship training boards, including those for the laborers, operating engineers and cement masons, among others. Born in Aberdeen, S.D., Jack Alan Schaefer served as a captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1969. He

The proposed $6-billion, DesertXpress high-speed passenger train project recently cleared its first major hurdle with the March 24 release of its final environmental impact statement. Circle Point, San Francisco, prepared the report on behalf of the Federal Railroad Administration. A record of decision is expected this spring. Photo courtesy US DOT Fares would be $50 to ride the steel-wheel trains. DesertXpress will follow the Interstate 15 alignment between Victorville, Calif. and Las Vegas, using existing right-of-way either along the median or roadside, and will build two passenger stations, a maintenance-storage-operation facility and three electrical substations. The project�s overhead catenary electric

The long saga of the construction of Tempe�s tallest residential towers, begun in 2005, may soon reach its final chapter after this week�s ribbon cutting for the project�s new leasing office. Formerly Centerpoint Condominiums, the two-tower development in the heart of Tempe�s Mill Avenue district was recently re-christened West 6th Tempe to signify a switch from condos to rentals, and construction crews have been back at work for several weeks. Photo by Scott Blair Holding the scissors, Kent Chantung (l) and Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman (r) cut a ribbon to signify the opening of West 6th Tempe�s leasing office. Photo

The first of nine potential geothermal powerplants being developed by Reno, Nev.-based Gradient Resources will be built by McLean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp.�s design-build subsidiary, Benham Constructors LLC. Photo: put photo credit here Gradient Resources operates a flow test well at its Patua site, approximately 38 miles east of Reno near Fernley. Construction of the 60-MW powerplant at Gradient�s Patua site, near Fernley, Nev., will begin the second quarter of this year, with commercial operation expected in the third quarter of 2017. No contract value was given to the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the estimated $270-million project.

A stumbling economy has claimed another victim on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-tower, 1,720-room Sahara Hotel & Casino will close on May 16 amid funding woes that have temporarily stalled redevelopment plans. Photo: Courtesy Sahara Hotel & Casino Las Vegas hotel was a popular tourist and entertainment spot in the 1950s, but tough economics are forcing its closure. Los Angeles-based owner SBE Entertainment Group will shutter the 59-year-old resort on 17.5 acres because continued operation is �no longer economically viable,� a company statement said. The closure will likely affect the bankrupt 3.9-mile Las Vegas Monorail, which has a passenger

Work has resumed on the Steve Herrera Judicial Complex in downtown Santa Fe, N.M., after a plume of free-phase hydrocarbons, leaked from 1920s-era leaded-gasoline tanks, led to a two-year delay. In 2009, demolition of the site�s existing structures had been completed and excavation for the 103,000-sq-ft, three-story building had begun when the owner, Santa Fe County, and the New Mexico Environment Dept. dug test wells that revealed the extent of the contamination. Rendering: NCA Architects Work on a $38.5-million courthouse in Santa Fe finally progresses after extensive soil remediation. Rendering: NCA Architects Stalled Santa Fe Courthouse Work Resumes After Cleanup.

WILSON David H. Wilson has been named chairman of the board and president of Gannett Fleming West Inc. Based in the firm’s Albuquerque, N.M., office, Wilson has 18 years of experience at Gannett Fleming. Wilson has also been named the regional office manager of the Albuquerque and Santa Fe offices. Wilson holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at University of New Mexico. He is a founding board member of the Intelligent Transportation Society of New Mexico. JMA Architecture Studios has hired several new employees. Patrick R. Hanson , intern architect,

SnapShot  March 21, 2011 Photographs chosen by our editors Submitted By: Shelly Dudley, senior historical analyst, SRP, Phoenix This photograph of Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona was taken Aug. 1, 1908, by a U.S. Reclamation Service photographer identified only as ‘D.A.W.’ With camera and gear, it would have been a difficult trek to reach the site east of Phoenix through the untamed Superstition Wilderness. The masonry dam was approximately 42% complete here, at a height of about 75 ft above the Salt River. The dam turns 100 this month. Photographer: D.A.W.

Southern Nevada�s Nellis Air Force Base is trimming construction costs of a new child development center by nearly 4% by using a unique aerated plastic-riser foundation system. Graphic: Courtesy USAF Cobblestone Construction, Las Vegas, broke ground on the $7.2-million design-build project in August 2010 and later discovered that the six-acre site along the northwest edge of the base was contaminated with radon. The 26,000-sq-ft block building consequently required a gas ventilation system, which typically comprises a vapor barrier consisting of a membrane of washed rocks and liquid as well as perforated pipe and fans. Wright Engineers, Las Vegas, proposed a

Students will be able to skip the university experience altogether and go straight into the workforce after attaining an education from an innovative new school being constructed in Glendale, Ariz. Image courtesy DLR Group A new aviation maintenance school in Arizona will help students proceed directly to the workforce by utilizing hands-on curriculum. The Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC) Aviation Technology Program will allow high school students and adults to partake in two years of training in aircraft maintenance. They will be separate programs, but following the same curriculum. �We will have approximately 100 juniors and seniors [at a time],�