Jacobsen Construction Grows with Bud Bailey Acquisition

Jacobsen Construction Company of Salt Lake City announced its acquisition of Bud Bailey, a Salt Lake City-based subsidiary of Swinerton, Inc of San Francisco effective the beginning of last month. Full terms of the acquisition were not released but most Bud Bailey employees and current projects were folded into Jacobsen in June.

"We have competed against Bud Bailey, and have also worked closely with them on several customer programs," said Jacobsen CEO Lonnie M. Bullard. "We are delighted now to welcome their talented and hard working professionals to the Jacobsen team."

Bud Bailey President, David Grubb Jr. told employees the acquisition was an "exciting" opportunity for both companies.

"Bringing our combined resources together into one will provide great business opportunities and a strong base for the future," said Grubb.

Jacobsen was established in the Intermountain market in 1922. In the past several years Jacobsen revenues have averaged above $300 million. Bullard said even without the acquisition, the company would have produced more than $300 million in revenue during 2005.

"With the Bud Bailey acquisition, our combined revenue should reach well beyond $350 million," said Bullard. "We also welcome the addition opportunities the Bud Bailey acquisition will bring. Bud Bailey has acquired some highly technical and important projects and has skilled people to run them."

Grubb assured all current Bud Bailey contracts and commitments and responsibilities to subcontractors, vendors and clients will be maintained.

Edwards & Daniels Architects Celebrates 50 years

In May Edwards & Daniels Architects hosted an open house at the firm's Salt Lake City offices in celebration of 50 years of design work in the region.

According to Peter duP. Emerson, EDA's current Executive Officer, "EDA is unique in terms of its core employees most of whom have been with EDA for an unusually long time. They understand the value of the company and that they are an important part of it."

"It was impressive to see the affinity and loyalty that previous employees have for EDA.

They have moved on to other pursuits, but still have a high regard for their time here," said Holly Feinsilber, EDA's new Marketing Director.

George Daniels, one of EDA's founding partners currently retired, commented on the impact of the firm's work on buildings throughout Utah.

"Who we are, is not what we do," said Daniels. "But what we do in architecture is often more than buildings…it is the realization of the dreams of school boards, of library boards, of commercial and community groups. We have been instrumental in the realization of those dreams. We met and worked personally with vast numbers of dedicated individuals who relied on our judgment and advice. The conclusions then took form as drawings. We counseled with people throughout the West, learning from them as much as we imparted to them."

Ron Simmons, a retired founding partner, talked about the difference between pursuing projects in the firm's early years and now. "Things were just different back then. Now-a-days you spend so much time getting ready for an interview and days promoting potential clients. We used to never go to an interview. We would just go to the school district and meet with the Superintendent, get him on a tractor and go to the site."

EDA Architects, Inc's. very first project was the East Carbon High School in Price and in the past 50 years has designed numerous landmark projects throughout the state including: the Utah Olympic Park; Salt Palace Exhibit Hall and the current Salt Palace Expansion Phase II; the Art and Architecture Building at the University of Utah; the Triad Center; the Broadway Centre Tower; Antelope Island Visitor's Center and the original Salt Lake City Main Library.

Recently EDA was retained to design and consult for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, a project which is currently underway.

Working on the 2002 Winter Olympics was one of my career highlights" said Burke Cartwright, design executive. "We were able to travel to many countries and exotic places. We met with many important government and international personalities. Being part of this once in a lifetime experience is definitely something I will never forget. It's great to be part of something that will be a legacy for the community.

Design Workshop's Utah office
moves to expanded quarters in Salt Lake City

Following growth in both commissions and staff in recent months, the Park City office of Design Workshop, an international award-winning landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm, has moved into new and larger quarters at the Sweet Candy Building in Salt Lake City.

The firm's Utah office, which opened in Park City in August 2000 with one staff member, has grown to a current staff of 17. The move from their previous Park City location will give staff members more space for client meetings, design charrettes and staff.

"As a Utah native, I'm happy that Design Workshop has had this opportunity to extend its dedication to sound environmental practices and smart growth to the Intermountain West ," said Terrall Budge, a partner in the firm. "We're grateful to be able to bring our design and planning expertise to the continuing growth challenge of the Salt Lake Valley."

The Salt Lake office has developed a talented urban design, community planning and resort design team. Dave Nicholas, who coordinated the design and construction of the new office space, as well as the move itself, leads the office as operations manager. Chuck Ware, Principal, comes to Salt Lake from Design Workshop's Denver office, where he worked on implementation of urban, campus, resort and community spaces.

Among the office's current projects are Daybreak, a dynamic mixed-use community in South Jordan, Utah, and the interpretive landscape for the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah, as well as projects in Provo, Brigham City and Logan. The office is also involved in the planning and design of two mixed-use developments in Las Vegas: Harbor Island and Union Park.

New Dam for Daybreak

Harper Contracting completed a new roller compacted dam at the South Jordan Daybreak development as part of a three phase plan for the creation of the Oquhir Lake. Using a temporary batch plant, Harper Ready Mix supplied the 8,600 cu yds of concrete used to construct the dam which is 20 ft high, approximately 60 ft. wide at the base and . The structure cost approximately $900,000 and was completed in a continuous pour lasting nearly 70 hours. The project had been delayed due to weather but crews were able to start on Monday, May 23. The dam was covered with earth which will eventually be landscaped.

"We started at 8 a.m. that Monday and finished at about 3 a.m. Wednesday. It all went great," said Jim Harper of Harper Contracting.

In addition to the dam, a spillway was constructed to allow a continuous flow into a small water feature and into an artificial stream that follows one of the development's walking paths. Greg Rasumussen, director of land development for the project's developer Kennecott Land said roller compacted dams are uncommon but necessary in this case.

"Typically you would do an earth fill dam but because we have water coming over it into the reflecting pond it couldn't be," said Rasmussen. "The water will go into the pond, can be used for irrigation and some will eventually be pumped back into the lake."
Oquhir Lake will consist of 85 acre surface ft of water and serve as a recreational feature and irrigational water source for the planned community being developed by Kennecott Land.

Harper said his company is continuing site work and preparing to install a liner in the lake before it will be filled.

Big-D Completes Wal-Mart Distribution Center

Big-D Construction has completed the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Grantsville. The building is 1.25 million square feet, comparable to 24 football fields. The distribution facility will ship to stores in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Nevada. It includes 15 miles of conveyor that will handle 250,000-550,000 cases per day. The project was completed in approximately 10 months with the owner occupying the facility in January. A grand opening was held in April.

Spectrum Engineers Wins Three Awards for Lighting

Spectrum Engineers has won three International Illumination Design Awards (IIDA) presented by the Utah Chapter of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. Joseph M. "Jody" Good, III, LC, IESNA, principal lighting designer with Spectrum Engineers, accepted the awards at a luncheon and awards ceremony on May 10, 2005.

The three award winning projects are: KUTV Main Street Studios, Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory for Music and Theatre (addition to the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts) at Westminster College, and Huntsman Cancer Hospital (Phase 2, Huntsman Cancer Institute) at the University of Utah, all located in Salt Lake City. The IIDA program honors lighting designers and their exceptional lighting projects.

Roger Knight Construction Breaks Ground
on new Murray Holladay Office Building

Roger Knight Construction will begin construction on a 44,000 square foot office building July 2005. Located on two acres at 999 East Murray Holladay Road, the building will include multi-office space as well as executive suite options. According to project partners, Douglas Knight and Jeff Mansell, the building, 999 Murray Holladay Center, will be ready for occupancy in early 2006.

BIG-D to build Army Reserve Training Center in Ogden

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Big-D Construction the Browning Army Reserve Training Center in Ogden. The project consists of three buildings totaling 51,000 square feet. Two of the buildings will be remodeled and the third will be 16,000 square feet of new construction. The project is a joint venture with Ogden-based Creative Times and Prime Architects of Columbus, Ohio. Construction began in June with completion expected September 2006.