The congregation of the Church of St. Aloysius in Jackson, N.J., was growing, and by 2001 the 500 seats in its church, as well as the size of its school, were not big enough to accommodate everyone. The Diocese of Trenton, the owners of the church, embarked on a master plan to build a new, 1,100-seat place of worship Along with the diocese, the congregation itself was involved in approving the new master plan. Related Links: Best Of 2009 “The process had to find a way for consensus between those disparate opinions,” says Scott Erdy, principal of Erdy McHenry Architecture,

A jam-packed Citi Field – the new home of the New York Mets – is a heavy place. After all, that adds up to 45,000 baseball fans cheering atop more than 12,000 tons of structural steel, along with the 1-million-plus bricks enclosing the 1.4-million-sq-ft ballpark in Queens. Related Links: Best Of 2009 It’s not the kind of facility that typically sits atop soft, fill-based soils. But the $800-million-plus Citi Field is built over meadows with virtually no rock beneath. “There’s no bottom, essentially,” says Scott Hamburg, senior project manager for Bovis Lend Lease, half of the construction manager joint venture

The $163 million Dey Street Concourse Structural Box, part of the new Fulton Street Transit Center complex, added a concourse and subway tracks and platforms beneath Dey Street between Church Street and Broadway. The concourse will eventually connect the Transit Center and the permanent PATH terminal at the World Trade Center site. Related Links: Best Of 2009 “The successful completion of the structural box for the Dey Street underground pedestrian concourse was the result of exceptional teamwork between owner and contractor, as well as the cooperation we encountered from the community and stakeholders during construction,” says Hsin Wu, P.E., construction

The $68 million Cooper Square Hotel is part of the vanguard of sleek contemporary structures standing in mark contrast to the low-rise tenements that have characterized Manhattan’s Cooper Square since the 1850’s. Related Links: Best Of 2009 But whereas the other new buildings stand apart from the surrounding tenements, Cooper Square Hotel incorporates one of the red-brick buildings into the structure. This interesting integration of the old and the new was not by choice, but in the end added to the overall design. Original plans for the hotel called for the demolition of three brick tenements occupying the building site.

For the people of Deer Park, Long Island and its surrounding areas, the construction of the Arches during this tough economic period gives them a reason to be at least cautiously optimistic. Designed to emulate a European-themed shopping village with covered walkways, an outdoor ice skating rink and water fountains, the $180 million open air center is expected to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, which will help alleviate the burden on the town’s residents. It has also generated hundreds of jobs, both full and part time, for local residents. Related Links: Best Of 2009 The largest outlet center

Gregs G. Thomopulos, P.E., Chairman & CEO of Stanley Consultants of Houston, was elected president of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers for a two-year term. FIDIC represents globally the consulting engineering industry. Thomopulos has been on the organization’s executive committee for six years. His election marks the first time in 20 years that a U.S. citizen holds the position, which only three other Americans have held in FIDIC’s nearly 100-year history. Dynamic Lighting Solutions in Pearland announced Robert C. Horswood joined the company as utility sales representative, Eastern Division. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s

Trumbull, Conn.-based COWI USA, Inc. has been selected as the prime consultant for the first phase of constructing an ocean-based anemometer tower, part of the Palmetto Wind Research Project and a key step in researching the viability of a proposed offshore wind farm. COWI USA will lead a team in helping Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, select the appropriate anemometry equipment, platform, and foundation for an offshore meteorological tower. Phase one of the project also includes an alternative analysis and concept design for the wind data collection system. The design will consider cost, bankability of data,

Work has stopped on 515 formerly active construction sites throughout New York City�s five boroughs, according to a New York Building Congress analysis. Inspection records for the New York City Dept.. of Buildings inspection record showed that as of November 29 the number dropped slightly from the beginning of the month, when 531 stalled projects were reported. This reverses a trend in which the number of stalled building projects was accelerating. The DOB first began tracking stalled sites back in July. While no breakdown of building type is available, almost all of the stalled projects are residential developments. In July,

Designs for Red Hook Green, New York City�s first sustainable, zero-energy, live/work building is scheduled to break ground in February 2010. Rendering courtesy of Garrison Architects The design of Red Hook Green is inspired by shipping containers and is made up of modular units that are stacked and shifted to create a variety of terraces and angles. Red Hook Green is the brain-child of New York technology and media entrepreneur, Jay Amato and is expected to become one of the most distinctive architectural additions to the up-and-coming Red Hook section of Brooklyn. The 4,000-sq-ft Red Hook Green will be able

Several large public projects will continue to move forward in 2010, but with the economy still troubled and financial markets unyielding, private jobs are few. Yet they create opportunities for some firms as the industry right-sizes and moves forward. “The name of the game for 2010 and beyond is to make sure you are well diversified in different product types,” says Pat Di Filippo, executive vice president of Turner Construction Co. in New York, who adds that his firm has a lot of work under way and in the pipeline, even though overall, there has been a dramatic drop in