Populous, formerly known as HOK Sport, has been named architect-of-record for an eagerly anticipated new arena on the Las Vegas Strip. The 30-year-old Kansas City-based architectural firm, specializing in sports facilities and convention centers, has completed over 2,000 projects worldwide, including Coors Field in Denver, Houston’s Reliant Stadium, and United Center in Chicago. Image courtesy AEG. A rendering of the proposed MGM Resorts International and AEG indoor events venue between the New York-New York and Monte Carlo resorts along the Las Vegas Strip. MGM Resorts International and AEG are jointly developing a $350-million, 20,000-seat indoor events venue between the New
Construction was among the industries that reported increased employment levels in September, according to the latest employment statistics from the Dept. of Labor — released nearly three weeks after originally scheduled thanks to the federal government shutdown. But due to the delay, regional reporting for most states and regions has not yet been compiled. The U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly employment report for September, released Oct. 22, found that overall, total non-farm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was virtually unchanged at 7.2%.The entire Southwest region including Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico were eagerly awaiting
We're at a watershed moment in American cultural life. Libraries, books and colleges are losing ground to iPads, Twitter feeds and online courses. Great newspaper empires are being reduced to rubble at the feet of Gen-Y bloggers. Related Links: Colorado's Built-Environment Leaders Express Optimism Designing Senior Living Environments for Tomorrow And nowhere is this shift more evident than in our colleges and universities, with the rise of online education. Why would parents want to spend $50,000 a year to ship their kids off to a four-year college in some city to talk to a professor and read a book when
Spring training ballparks are great places to take in the national pastime in sunny Arizona. Until recently, these parks have been relatively straightforward to design and construct—most with seating for less than 10,000 fans. Related Links: Salt River Fields At Talking Stick Wins Best Project Award Aces Stadium in Reno, Nev., Is A Community Jewel But a new ballpark under construction in Mesa, Ariz., for the Chicago Cubs, is not only larger than other Arizona spring training facilities—with a 15,000-seat stadium, practice fields, locker rooms, offices and integration of a public park and lake—but it was built within a challenging
Bob Kain has been named director of health care for Balfour Beatty Construction, where he will lead market endeavors in Phoenix and Southern California. Kain comes to the company from HMC Architects, where he was the primary owner, president and CEO. He was principal-in-charge for several large replacement facilities including the $370-million Kaiser Permanente Replacement Hospital in Fontana, Calif. Related Links: Upload Your Firm's People Announcements to ENR Southwest's People Gallery View Past ENR Southwest People Articles Leary Jones also joined Balfour Beatty as senior director of safety, health and environmental for the Southwest. Jones previously served as Turner Construction's
After years of weakness, construction levels across the Southwest appear to have established a new baseline and are entering the beginning of an extended period of growth. Eight of the top 10 firms on this year's Top Specialty Contractors ranking had increased revenue in 2012. Related Links: View All ENR Southwest Lists See last year's winners ENR Southwest's Specialty Contractor of the Year, Suntec Concrete, Phoenix, saw its revenue jump 67% over the past year, to $125 million. The Las Vegas office of Helix Electric reported a $10-million increase in revenue in 2012, helping the company climb up a notch
The construction industry certainly got walloped in the Great Recession. In 2010, unemployment in the industry neared 25%, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The impact was especially pronounced in the Southwest, primarily because of the booms that had marked the region's growth for more than 50 years. Related Links: Suntec Contributes To Mesa, Ariz., facility Architectural Record During the downturn, Suntec Concrete, Phoenix, saw its work force trimmed to nearly 250—about a 60% decrease from pre-recession boom times.But while no one wants to see a downturn, the initiatives and decisions that Suntec management made during those difficult times
Two upcoming hot tickets in Las Vegas both will feature the Harmon Hotel—once the planned showstopper of the huge CityCenter development, but now unfinished and unopened. Image: ENR The abandoned Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. Related Links: Court Drama Over Harmon Hotel Defects to Continue into 2014 MGM Aims To Bulldoze Unfinished Harmon Tower in Vegas The $279-million hotel soon faces court-approved demolition and also is the subject of a construction-defect trial set for next February that pits co-owner MGM Resorts International against general contractor Tutor Perini Building Corp. Both events will be closely watched.Still unclear, however, is what
There is a new law on the books that will affect contractors and design-builders doing business in Utah. Related Links: Does Your Contract Call For Liquidated Damages or a Penalty? A Common-Sense Solution to Mitigation of Damages Rule The Utah Supreme Court recently simplified the test that determines whether a court will enforce a liquidated damages clause. The clause provides a way to calculate damages up front if there is a breach of contract or a delay in project completion.When the contract is breached, the law aims to restore both parties to where they would have been had the contract
Saturation divers, working one at a time, are nearing the end of a repair project on a pumped-storage hydroelectric system at Horse Mesa Dam on the Salt River in central Arizona. The repair will reestablish 97 megawatts of peak-load generating capacity that was lost 13 months ago, when failure of a guide vane sent about 50 tons of concrete shooting down the penstock serving the turbines. Related Links: Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge Dedicated “It is our largest hydro-generation asset on the Salt River,” says Roger Baker, principal engineer for hydro-generation at the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Salt River Project,
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