The Construction Industry Service Corporation (CISCO) honored its project-of-the-year winners for 2009. The awards are part of CISCO’s Pride in Construction award program, which recognizes the top union construction projects in four categories. The program also honors an area educator, Illinois public body, and a labor conciliator.

“We received 14 top-notch projects from Chicagoland for consideration in this year’s program,” says John Brining, CISCO executive director. “The board had some difficult choices to make, but in the end the union construction industry was the big winner as many great local projects were showcased for this prestigious award.”

Categories and the project of the year award winner in each:

New Construction—Chicago: The 92-story, 1,388-ft-tall Trump International Hotel & Tower, tallest building built in Chicago since the Sears (now Willis) Tower. Its owner is the Trump Organization. Bovis Lend Lease, Inc. was its general contractor, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP its architect, and WMA Consulting Engineers its engineer.

New Construction—Suburbs: The $62- million Aurora Police Headquarters and Branch Court Facility, which consolidated five police stations, a 911 emergency call center, and a branch courthouse. Aiming for LEED Gold certification, it uses 27% less energy and 30% less water than an average building of similar size. Its owner is the city of Aurora, Ill. The project’s construction managers were Leopardo Companies, Inc., and R.C. Wegman Construction Co. Its architects were McClaren, Wilson & Lawrie, Inc., and Cordogan Clark & Associates. Engineering Enterprises, Inc., was the engineer.

Residential Construction: Residences at the Grove in Downers Grove, Ill., a $56-million, 294-unit complex that includes 270 residential units, 24 rental townhomes, and a clubhouse on 16 acres. Its owner is M&R Development, LLC. McShane Construction was the project’s general contractor, Cordogan Clark & Associates its architect, and SPACECO, Inc., its engineer.

Rehabilitation: The United Neighborhood Organization’s (UNO) $46-million New Veterans Memorial Campus in Chicago. The campus houses two elementary schools and UNO’s first high school. The building’s roof has a layer of plant life to absorb solar energy, and the building contains 90 solar panels used for hot-water heating and cooling.

Its owner, UNO, teamed with general contractor F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen and its joint-venture partner DEN/co Management, architect Urban Works Ltd., and engineer DBHMS Engineering.

William Enright, instructor for Pipefitters local 597 was named educator of the year. Doris Acevedo of the Illinois Dept. of Labor was named labor conciliator of the year. The city of Rosemont, Ill., was named public body of the year.