Photo Courtesy of Thornton Tomasetti Federally funded reconstruction carries prevailing-wage rules that will slow rehabilitation efforts, some say. Others say the low-cost solution will lead to inferior design for low-income housing. Walmart has rebuilt and design firms are working on several replacement schools, but a recent hike in federally mandated construction wages could hamper efforts to construct low-income housing and other publicly funded projects in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., some state and local officials say.Local contractors say the prevailing-wage rate for public-works projects has in some cases nearly tripled—to $21.47 per hour from $7.98 an hour—for area carpenters, who receive $12.65
The Village of Skokie, Ill., not only made the unlikely move of selecting a dilapidated warehouse for its new $21.7-million, 75,000-sq-ft police headquarters, but it achieved LEED-Gold certification in the bargain.
A $1.2-million renovation program allowed the Minneapolis-based YouthLink Youth Opportunity Center to consolidate health care, housing, crisis stabilization and employment assistance for homeless and marginalized youths into its existing facility.
This meticulous historic restoration returned key public spaces of the 96-year-old Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, Iowa, to their original glory, while a new, adjoining structure serves as a grand entrance for the 191,000-sq-ft facility.
The Springfield, Mo.-based John Twitty Energy Center Unit 2, a 300-MW coal-fired plant equipped with state-of-the-art emission reduction technology, ranks among the nation's cleanest and operates well below permissible limits established by state and federal laws.
Explosive growth along the four-lane, divided Keystone Parkway Corridors in Carmel, Ind., not only resulted in snarls, but as many as 200 accidents a year.
One of three projects undertaken by Ameren to reduce harmful emissions from coal-fired powerplants, the installation of two new wet flue gas desulfurization scrubber systems at Ameren's Sioux Energy Center in West Alton, Mo., required more than 2.2 million man-hours and as many as 550 craftsworkers during peak periods.
Its neoclassical trappings belie the contemporary design solutions required to harmoniously blend form and function at the $118-million, 1,600-seat Palladium Center for Performing Arts, the heart of a new arts and cultural district in Carmel, Ind.
The $59-million, 221-unit Parc Huron in Chicago is purportedly the first LEED-Gold-certified high-rise apartment building in Illinois, the result of sustainable design elements that include enhanced daylighting in common areas and apartments, Energy STAR-rated appliances, low water-use fixtures and energy-efficient elevators, light fixtures and HVAC equipment.