MINNESOTA The Metropolitan Council, a regional planning agency serving the Twin Cities, is planning to build an 11-mile-long light-rail line connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. The council expects to award the first major contract, the Civil East Package, worth $232 million, on June 23. The contract will include laying seven miles of track, relocating utilities, reconstructing streets and sidewalks, building 14 stations and tearing down the Bremer Bank building. Contracts for the western portion of the line— including an operations-and-maintenance center and a fare collection system—will be awarded later this year. The overall Central Corridor project will cost $957 million and be completed by 2014. Metropolitan Council, 390 N. Robert St., St. Paul, 55101.
ALASKA Ketchikan Gateway Borough has selected Rise Alaska to provide project management services for the Ketchikan Aquatic Center. The project includes a two-story, 35,000-sq-ft complex with an eight-lane main lap pool as well as a diving well, a separate, 3,150-sq-ft warm-water pool and a recreational slide structure. The project includes commissioning services and special-inspection program management. The construction cost is $17.4 million. Rise Alaska, 880 H St., Suite 101, Anchorage, 99501. DR# 09-00725435.