The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it plans to add the Washington County Lead District-Furnace Creek site in eastern Missouri to the federal Superfund National Priorities List. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The Furnace Creek site is located in a heavily mined region and primarily includes residential properties within and around the towns of Belgrade, Caledonia, Hopewell and Irondale, Mo. Mining activities in Washington County have contributed to elevated levels of lead in soil and groundwater in this area. An NPL listing notifies the public that EPA believes a site requires further study and possible cleanup under

Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc., the industrial construction subsidiary of North American contractor Graycor, and Graycor Blasting Co. Inc., the industrial services subsidiary of Graycor, have selected Portage, Ind., as the site of their new northwest Indiana operations center. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" With occupancy planned for summer 2011, the facility will offer 44,000 sq ft of office and operations support space on approximately 10 acres of land in the Ameriplex at the Port business park. The decision comes shortly after Graycor announced plans to relocate its Illinois offices to Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. Graycor has evolved from its founding

Kwame Building Group of St. Louis has completed work as the construction manager and owner’s representative on St. Louis Community College’s William J. Harrison Northside Education Center. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The 31,000-sq-ft education center in north St. Louis City recently opened for classes. KAI of St. Louis was the architect. The Harrison Center, the first green public higher education facility of its kind in St. Louis, is seeking LEED Gold certification. The center’s energy efficient heating and cooling system includes heat pumps in offices and classrooms for individual comfort. Other green features include controllable lighting, the use

HOK recently announced that construction is underway on a new 14-story Convention Center hotel in Columbus. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Designed by HOK’s Chicago office for Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, the $140 million Hilton Columbus Downtown hotel will feature 532 rooms, 48 suites and 22,800 sq ft of meeting space. “This full-service, state-of-the-art atrium hotel will be efficient, sustainable and contextually responsive in its innovative use of glass, masonry and steel,” says Todd Halamka, group vice president and director of design for HOK’s Chicago office. HOK’s design includes a full height atrium lobby and restaurant featuring a

Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis has contracted Kwame Building Group of St. Louis as the program manager for its $15 million on-campus residence hall, the second campus housing project in the 153-year-old university’s history. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Kwame was also program manager on the university’s first residence hall and many other Harris-Stowe capital improvement projects. The 70,000-sq-ft residence hall will provide on-campus housing and study spaces for 200 of the university’s students and will house the campus’ new dining hall. The building is funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s Historically Black College University Capital Financing

St. Luke’s Hospital has opened a new Urgent Care/Medical Office Center in St. Louis near CityPlace campus. Photo Courtesy: Korman Group St. Luke’s Urgent Care and Medical Office Center in St. Louis is located in a new 15,000-sq-ft one-story building that also hosts office space for primary care physicians, X-ray and lab services. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Koman Group, the developer and asset manager of CityPlace, oversaw the development project for St. Luke’s. St. Luke’s Urgent Care in Creve Coeur is located in a new 15,000-sq-ft one-story building that also hosts office space for primary care physicians as

The internationally-acclaimed Aqua tower at Lakeshore East has been named the winner of a Distinguished Building Award by the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The 2010 AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards offer awards in four categories: Distinguished Building, Interior Architecture, Divine Detail and Unbuilt Design. Aqua was recognized in the Distinguished Building category, winning an Honor Award. An Honor Award is the highest level of awards presented by AIA Chicago. The award was announced at AIA Chicago’s annual Designight on Oct. 29 at Navy Pier. The award joins such other honors

McShane Construction Co. of Rosemont, Ill., was recently selected as the 2010 General Contractor of the Year by the Chicago Chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The award was presented at the 23rd Annual Awards for Excellence hosted by the NAIOP Chicago Chapter on Nov. 18 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. The event was attended by approximately 800 brokers, developers, lenders, contractors and architects involved in the Chicago area commercial real estate market. Nomination criteria for the designation included projects that were signed or construction commenced between July 1, 2009,

The Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, a non-profit sailing organization on Lake Michigan’s waterfront, is seeking to raise the bar for sustainable design among community organizations. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The organization’s new two-story facility, designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, Milwaukee, utilizes a geothermal heating and cooling system and incorporates green building design and construction materials into its new lakeshore home. Located in Veterans Park at the south end of the McKinley Marina, MCSC provides sailing instruction and opportunities for all Milwaukee-area residents, including youth, inner-city groups and the disabled. The new design and construction was funded through

In less than 90 days Guarantee Electrical Co. of Ferguson, Mo., energized the 224,000-sq-ft Technology and Innovation Center for pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The facility, located in suburban St. Louis, is part of the recently launched NorthPark master development. Guarantee installed power, lighting, UPS back-up power, emergency, fire alarm, data and security system raceways. The center, which has the capacity to dispense, package and ship more than 110,000 prescriptions daily, hosts the most advanced home delivery system in the Express Scripts system. “This project advanced at a pace similar to retooling a