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Children's Museum of Utah Reinvents Itself
The Children's Museum of Utah has reinvented itself into
Discovery Gateway and Enterprise Village and moved to a new
location at the Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City. The museum's
long-time facility, although nostalgic, was inefficient, isolated
from other businesses and in desperate need of renovation.
Interior Construction Specialists (ICS) of Sandy, Utah turned
an existing shell structure at the Gateway into a four-level,
70,000 square foot discovery and learning center.
The new Discovery Gateway has been open for business since
September 2006 and currently features three floors full of
interactive, hands-on exhibits, programs and workshops. The
different exhibits include areas devoted to architecture,
construction, television and radio broadcasting, the four
seasons, etc. Each interactive display is designed to engage
and inspire children to learn specifically in the humanities,
arts and social sciences. The museum officially opened on
Sept. 16, 2006 to great success - the number of visitors exceeded
projections by over 70 percent. More than 1,500 children and
families came to visit the new facility.
In 2007, the fourth floor will open, dedicated entirely as
Junior Achievement City. Essentially, crews are in the process
of building a mock city complete with a brick-paved street
and storefronts. The area will be built to look like a downtown
city and will include mock-up versions of banks, city offices
and other businesses that will teach children what it's like
to run a city for a day.
The work ICS performed on the Discovery Gateway project was
beyond that in typical tenant improvement projects. The new
home of the children's museum occupies a space that is modern,
spacious and flexible. The project team worked with huge areas
and lots of big, open spaces, along with high walls - some
as tall as 40 feet. ICS' scope of work included the cutting
and installation of a 14 x 16 foot shaft for a freight elevator
as well as two new hydraulic passenger elevators, the addition
of 150 tons of steel - the majority of which was suspended
- within the structure, the concrete infill of the atrium
area sized at 45 x 75 feet and 45 x 30 feet, all new mechanical
and electrical systems, exhibit, retail and office space and
the creation of four new stairways.
Chiniquy Center Breaks Ground in So. Utah
Watts Construction of St. George held a groundbreaking recently
for a new office building to be named Chiniquy Center. The owner
of the project, Chad Chiniquy, teamed with Watts Construction
and Ken Naylor of NWL Architects of Salt Lake City in the design
of the Tuscan-inspired project, which is a three-story office
building located on Bluff Street in St. George.
The building's Spanish tile roofs and stucco and stone walls
rise two levels above Bluff Street. Xeriscaped garden levels
allow three levels of naturally-lit office space within the
45,000 sq. ft. building. A highly-efficient and environmentally
conscious building, the Chiniquy Center will use innovative
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) to increase the insulation quality
and noise reduction value significantly. The main entry lobby
will add a Tuscan-like courtyard experience, bringing the outdoors
inside.
University of Southern Nevada Opens Doors to New Facility
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held December 15 for the University
of Southern Nevada's new education campus in South Jordan,
Utah. The University had been operating in temporary space
at the River Park Corporate Center in South Jordan.
Ground was broken on the project in November 2005 for a facility
dedicated to pharmacy education. The new campus building welcomed
students for January 2007 pharmacy classes.
The facility was built in response to a nationwide shortage
of pharmacists. Dr. Harry Rosenberg, founding president of
the University of Southern Nevada said, "Similar to what
happened when we opened our doors in Las Vegas (in 1999),
we have attracted exceptional faculty and students at the
Utah campus."
Rosenberg led the ribbon cutting ceremony and was joined by
other university officials, state and community leaders and
construction and architecture company executives in opening
the new facilities.
The project was constructed by Layton Construction of Sandy,
Utah.
Granite Education Center Now LEED Certified
The Granite Education Center in Salt Lake City received official
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification
in December.
The "green building" certification was the first
for Granite School District, and has become the 10th LEED
certified project in the State of Utah.
When the Granite Board of Education decided to purchase an
existing 151,867 sq. ft. facility that was originally built
as a medical center, it was looking to make a cost-effective
investment in facilities. As the project progressed into design,
the Board realized how conducive the project was to the principles
of sustainable design as it involves the adaptive re-use of
an existing facility and a long-term commitment to the site.
However, the decision to pursue LEED certification required
a substantial commitment to incorporate additional sustainable
measures in categories such as energy, materials, and indoor
air quality.
"LEED certification was not just a benefit for the District
- it's a benefit to the entire City," said Jeff Nielsen,
project manager for ajc architects of Salt Lake City. "It
reduces waste sent to the landfill, it reduces water consumption
and it reduces demand on the utility grid."
"The whole building was slated for demolition prior to
the Granite School District acquisition," said Jim Day,
director of facilities for Granite School District. "We
were able to not only save the building, but also save the
District a tremendous amount of money by reusing existing
material components."
Nielsen said a typical project sends 100 percent of construction
waste to a dump site. On the Granite Education Center, "that
figure was reduced to 31 percent, which amounted to 860 tons
of waste being diverted from the City dump."
Day estimates that the District will recover the two percent
increase in the project's budget (the cost of pursuing LEED
certification) in less than one year. The $19,248 check the
District received for recycling scrap metal, rather than sending
it to the dump, is one example of cost savings.
In addition, LEED points were realized for reusing 67 percent
of the furnishings found in the original building. Other sustainable
features include:
Plumbing fixtures use 31 percent less water than the
Energy Policy Act of 1992 requirements.
The new HVAC system contains no CFC based refrigerants.
Connected lighting power density was reduced by 25
percent.
Daylight responsive controls have been installed in
all regularly occupied spaces within 15 feet of windows or
skylights.
12 percent of construction materials were recycled
content.
50 percent of wood-based construction materials and products
are Forest Stewardship Council certified wood.
Nielsen credits the accomplishment of LEED certification to
a collaborative effort among Granite School District, ajc,
and general contractor Okland Construction of Salt Lake City.
WGI Projects Honored for Record-Setting Nuclear Plant Performances
Washington Group International of Boise announced that
two nuclear projects performed by SGT LLC, its joint venture
with AREVA NP Inc., have been recognized by the power industry
with awards for world-class performances.
SGT steam generator replacement projects won the Platts
Global Energy Award for 2006 Energy Construction Project
of the Year and Power Engineering magazine's 2006 Nuclear
Project of the Year. This marks the second year in a row
an SGT project has earned Power Engineering honors for best
nuclear project.
"These awards illustrate SGT's continued commitment
to efficiency, safety, and operational excellence and exemplify
the superior level of service inherent in each project the
company undertakes," said Lou Pardi, president of Washington
Group's Power Business Unit, based in Princeton, N.J. "Both
projects set new world records -something that doesn't happen
in complex undertakings such as these without extensive,
detailed planning, top-notch communication, high safety
expectations and precise execution."
SGT LLC is one of only two companies providing such services
in the United States.
2006 Energy Construction Project of the
Year
Platts, a respected information company in the energy industry,
selected the record-breaking AmerenUE Callaway Nuclear Power
Plant Unit 1 Steam Generator Replacement as the 2006 Energy
Construction Project of the Year. SGT's replacement of four
steam generators at the Callaway plant in Fulton, Miss., exemplified
project execution excellence. This project set the world record
for any steam generator replacement breaker-to-breaker outage
duration. Safety was paramount on the project. At completion,
more than one million hours had been worked without a lost-time
injury, and the outage was completed with no recordable injuries.
In addition, the Entergy Arkansas Nuclear One steam generator
replacement and reactor vessel closure head replacement project
in Russellville, Ark., was selected as Power Engineering's
2006 Nuclear Project of the Year. SGT established a new breaker-to-breaker
outage record for replacement of
Babcock & Wilcox once-through steam generators, completing
the work with no lost-time accidents, and further demonstrating
the success of Washington Group's and SGT's strong, proactive
safety cultures.
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