A much-anticipated new fire station in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood, designated as Fire Station 18, moved into the construction phase with an early May groundbreaking led by Denver city officials. Attending the ceremony were Mayor Michael Hancock, Denver City Council President Mary Beth Susman, Manager of Safety Justice Alex Martinez, Denver Fire Department Chief Eric Tade, and Better Denver Bond Implementation Manager George Delaney of Denver Public Works. Photo courtesy of City and County of Denver Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (left) joined city and fire dept. officials for the groundbreaking of the citys newest fire station in Lowry. The voter-approved 2007

Design and preconstruction are under way on a project to consolidate two existing campuses and create a single PK-12 school in the Platte Valley School District in northeastern Colorado 40 miles east of Sterling. Photo courtesy of Platte Valley School District The Platte Valley School District will renovate and preserve key elements of its historic, 1921 Art Deco-style school in a facilities-consolidation project that will begin this summer. Rendering by SLATERPAULL Architects Renovations will restore the building to its original grandeur and provide functional spaces, a 21st Century learning environment and a safe and secure facility. The district consists of

The Colorado Chapter of the American Institute of Architects held its annual Young Architects Awards Gala in Denver on April 26. The winners were selected from entries submitted by firms, designers, students and young architects (designers licensed 10 years or less) from across the state. Entries were judged by a jury of architects and community leaders, facilitated by Dr. Mark Gelernter, dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver. Photo by Ryan Kane, courtesy of AIA Colorado AIA Colorados Built Architecture Award went to representatives of the Colorado Building Workshop at the University of

A veteran Regional Transportation District project manager who oversaw the recent completion of the new West Light Rail Line from Denver to Golden will return to the North Metro Rail Line, a construction project slated to begin next year. Jim Starling, who originally oversaw the development of the North Metro project during the environmental planning process, was appointed project manager of the West Line in 2009 following the untimely death of his colleague and predecessor, Dennis Cole, who died on June 26, 2009.During the grand opening of the W Line last week, RTD General Manager Phil Washington recognized Starling publicly

Denver’s SLATERPAULL Architects has been named Green Business of the Year by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented to the firm at the 2013 Business Award luncheon on April 26. SLATERPAULL specializes in educational environments and historic preservation projects with a focus on sustainable design. “This is quite an honor,” said Jamie Pedler, president and CFO of SLATERPAULL Architects.  “We want to thank all of the employees of SLATERPAULL.  It’s really their commitment and dedication to sustainability that has truly made us successful.”In addition to the firm’s overall sustainability philosophy, SLATERPAULL has been recognized for the

Shaffer • Baucom Engineering & Consulting is celebrating its 15-year anniversary. The Lakewood, Colo.-based engineering firm was founded to provide engineering and consulting services to institutional, industrial, federal and commercial clients. SBEC specializes in the areas of health care, higher education, K-12 education, aerospace, industrial and science and technology facilities design. Prominent SBEC projects over the last 15 years include Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, the first hospital in the nation to achieve a LEED rating (Silver); University of Colorado at Boulder, Indoor Practice Facility Renovation and Addition (achieved LEED Platinum in 2011); Colorado School of Mines Brown Hall and Mining

Denver’s Mortenson Construction marked completion of the concrete and steel-frame construction of the Exempla Saint Joseph replacement hospital with a topping-out ceremony at the jobsite in Denver on April 18. Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction The 831,327-sq-ft, eight-story replacement hospital will be a full-service facility with 348 patient beds. The new Saint Joseph replacement hospital is located adjacent to the current hospital campus east of downtown. The 831,327-sq-ft facility will be a full-service hospital housing all standard-care departments and services. The facility is being built to accommodate 348 patient beds and has a freestanding central utility plant that will serve

Broomfield, Colo.-based MWH, the wet infrastructure design firm and provider of strategic consulting, environmental, engineering and construction services, has opened an office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The office will serve as a hub for construction and engineering professionals and an administrative staff who will support MWH’s efforts in Africa.  
  Since the 1970s, MWH has helped Ethiopia with water- and energy-related challenges. In 1998 MWH was selected by the Ethiopia Electric Power Corp. as owner’s engineers for the Tekeze Hydropower Project in northern Ethiopia. The $350-million, government-funded project–and tallest arch in Africa at 188 meters high—was completed in 2009 and

Loveland, Colo.-based developer McWhinney plans to begin construction later this month on its fifth multifamily project, Arbour Commons, in Westminster. The official groundbreaking will take place in May. Arbour Commons is the second multifamily project developed by McWhinney at the Orchard Town Center, a master-planned community located off I-25 and 144th Avenue. Arbour Commons will be north of Arbour Square Apartments, a 300-unit McWhinney multifamily project that opened in fall 2011.Arbour Commons plans to offer 394 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment homes. All will feature energy-efficient floor plans.
“The market has responded well to Arbour Square, and as vacancy rates continue

The Colorado Dept. of Transportation says that nearly 200 miles of highway and more than 24 bridges will be under construction in the northeastern section of Colorado, with costs totaling more than $130 million. That includes projects in Boulder, Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Larimer, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties. This construction work does not include routine CDOT maintenance projects, which are also under way on a daily basis. 
Major 2013 construction projects in northeastern Colorado are listed below.• I-76 Brush to Fort Morgan Reconstruction: The $37.6-million project will reconstruct I-76 in both directions from mile