By most accounts, 2010 looks to be another rugged year for much of the construction industry, though things may improve a little near year’s end. In what promises to be a difficult business climate overall, higher-education construction seems to be a relative bright spot. Photo: Loebl Schlossman & Hackl The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., is in the midst of $84 million of renovation and construction for an instructional building and student resource center. The project, scheduled for completion in 2012, will renovate and construct 600,000 sq ft, along with the related storm and sanitary sewers. That’s not to

Is there room at the inn? Odds are, yes, there is room…too much room. That means there’s less need for more rooms—and what’s bad for the hotel business is equally bad for the construction industry. Photo: Steve Kaelble / Midwest Construction The new JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis is one of just a few large hotel projects going on in the Midwest. At 34 stories, it is the tallest hotel in Indiana. The statistics tell a grim story. U.S. hotel occupancy rates have been dropping since 2007, and by the fourth quarter of 2009 they had hit 50.6%, according to

Continuing tight credit, an overabundance of retail and office space, and excess manufacturing capacity will keep non-residential construction in the doldrums during 2010, despite more stimulus-funded projects starting. Bob Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. Chart shows value and percentage change of non-residential construction starts over the past 10 years. After three years of declines, the residential-construction market may be eyeing a rebound in 2010. But for designers and contractors in other building segments, it could be too soon to celebrate. McGraw-Hill Construction, of which Midwest Construction is a unit, is forecasting that total construction starts will

Industry indicators show that the construction industry’s decline has slowed and many industry experts expect the upturn to start sometime in 2010. Although many factors can affect the recovery, nearly every expert we interviewed thinks the industry faces a long slow climb back to prosperity. The outlook for 2010 in the Midwestern construction industry calls for a bottoming out early in the year, followed by slow growth through year’s end. Although 2010 will represent a slight improvement over 2009, it will not be anywhere near as good as 2008, and industry experts seem to agree that the recovery will be

Working on an historic landmark high school in Joliet, Ill., a design and construction team brought HVAC, electrical, and other systems up to date while respecting the historic architecture. The project also included building two field houses for Joliet high schools, and blending the new buildings with the schools’ existing architecture. The successful construction plan cut the project from five years to two while also cutting costs by 7% to 10%. Photo: Gilbane Building Co. Renovations to the century-old Joliet Central High School brought the school’s HVAC system into the 21st century and added a fieldhouse while preserving the building’s

The new Milestone hospital renovation and construction project in Peoria, Ill., built two new hospitals, renovated parts of an existing building, and tied the three together into one large unit. Photo: Children’s Hospital of Illinois The Children’s Hospital of Illinois section of the new and renovated hospital complex features several sections set at different levels. Photo: OSF St. Francis Hospital A view of what will be the new front of the hospital shows the building’s complex exterior, which blends precast concrete with different curtainwall systems. It’s a whole lot easier to land a helicopter if you don’t have to navigate

After 13 in. of rain fell on south-central Wisconsin in three days during early June, 2008, an embankment along Lake Delton gave way, unleashing a raging torrent of water that drained the 600-million-gallon lake dry in just a few hours. Photo: JOE OLIVA Reconstruction of CTH A and Refilling of Lake Delton Related Links: Midwest Constructions Best of 2009 Awards Sauk County Hwy. A, which ran atop the failed embankment, was also washed away in the flood. Tourism brings 1.5 million visitors and an estimated $1-billion to the Wisconsin Dells area each year. With the 2008 summer tourist season washed

Judy Faulkner is founder and CEO of Epic Systems Corp., a leading medical software provider headquartered near Verona, Wis. Related Links: Reconstruction of CTH A and refilling of Lake Delton Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal Building at Indianapolis International Airport Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing and Nichols Bridgeway To keep pace with phenomenal growth, Epic is roughly doubling the size of its headquarters to accommodate all of its 3,400 employees. In addition to running the company, Faulkner, once described by a colleague as “very smart, very passionate, very focused,” is also deeply involved in planning and constructing Epic’s headquarters

After lying fallow since 1989, this undeveloped block in Chicago’s Loop had begun showing promise of growing active in 2005—until the developer’s financial woes left much of it dormant once again. Since taking over as the new developer in 2007, Freed has revived many of the block’s building projects, and the nearly completed Phase 1 developments are bringing new life to the block bordered by State, Washington, Dearborn and Randolph streets. Photo courtesy of Gensler Construction of the retail and entertainment mall used �up-down� construction in which the basement was excavated as the building rose overhead. Trucks hauling the excavated

Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co., a division of The Boldt Co., Appleton, Wis., is Wisconsin’s largest general contractor and ranked 12th in Midwest Construction’s 2009 Top Contractor listing. Boldt Provides Long-Term Care for Hospitals Photo courtesy of Children�s Hospital of Wisconsin The new 12-story West Tower at Children�s Hospital of Wisconsin, opened in May of this year, is a recent major project that Boldt completed for the hospital. Related Links: Chicago�s Block 37 Really Springs to Life The company serves construction-related needs of customers in a wide range of industries that includes general construction, power generation, industrial work, recreational facilities,