The John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Memorial Bridge has been a vital pathway in and out of downtown Kansas City, Mo., since 1956, when it opened as the Broadway Bridge.
The 5.5-acre urban South Loop Park will be built above Interstate 670 and is intended to bridge the city’s Central business district and the Crossroads Arts District.
As part of the memorial’s newly renovated lower level, the Memorial Bergman Family Gallery features 4,000 sq ft of storage, including a 190-ft coastline of window cases displaying artifacts that were previously stored in closed back-of-house storage facilities.
When Ray Kowalik first interviewed with a recruiter at Kansas City, Mo.-based Burns & McDonnell after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in civil engineering, the concept of employee ownership didn’t bear all that much weight.
As the largest single infrastructure project in Kansas City history, this $1.5-billion, 1.1-million-sq-ft design-build effort replaced a three-terminal facility to streamline airport operations and improve passenger experience.
As many workers and companies still embrace hybrid and remote models established during the COVID-19 pandemic—even several years out from its onset—impacts on construction continue, with some sectors thriving and others diminishing.