General contractor Milton J. Womack Inc., recently broke ground on a $49 million project to rebuild Lee High School in Baton Rouge, La. Related Links: Milton J. Womack Inc. GraceHebert Architects Womack Project Executive Dale Phillips says the owner demolished the old school facilities which were originally constructed in the 60s. Four new buildings, totaling 190,000 square feet of combined space, will be constructed on the 25-acre site. It will consists of three three-story "academy buildings" to serve up to 1,200 students along with a large common-use facility featuring a gym, cafeteria and meeting spaces.The school was designed by local
Ranked as one of the top zoological parks in the country, New Orleans' Audubon Zoo is home to some critically acclaimed exhibits that have set a standard for other zoos around the world. Audubon's latest project is the construction of a new orangutan exhibit, an elephant exhibit and a river water ride for guests. Spread across three acres, the new attractions have visually appealing designs to immerse visitors in the natural world. Related Links: Audubon Nature Institute Gibbs Construction But project architects and contractors say working in a zoo comes with its own set of issues involving wildlife. Atypical construction
Continued strength in the energy industry propelled design firms in Texas and Louisiana last year, but it wasn't the region's only revenue-growth catalyst. The top 75 design firms on ENR Texas & Louisiana's ranking reported combined regional revenue of $4.1 billion in 2013—up from $2.97 billion in 2012—an increase of roughly 38% and more than double the nearly 16% growth of the year before. Related Links: 2014 Top Design Firms Ranking 2014 Top Design Firms Ranking by Sector 2013 Texas and Louisiana Top Design Firm Ranking Designers Seek Stability During Slow Recovery "Upstream [oil and gas] activities are slightly declining
Not long after its opening in the late 1960s, the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway corridor (Interstate 635) in Dallas experienced explosive growth and quickly exceeded capacity. As a result, planning for an expanded LBJ began in the late 1980s. More than 200 public meetings and three decades later, the project is under way. Related Links: LBJ Express LBJ Express Work Progresses to Excavation Phase The I-635 Managed Lanes project, also known as the LBJ Express, is a $2.7-billion, 13-mile highway reconstruction that will more than double the capacity of the corridor, which spans two municipalities in Dallas County. All of
Baird, Hampton and Brown Inc. announced several promotions. Konstantine Bakintas has been elevated to president of the firm; Bill Baird, founding principal, has been promoted to chairman; Ken Randall, previously lead for the electrical group, is now chief operations officer; and Mike McIlraith, a mechanical group leader, is now senior vice president. Also joining the firm as principals are Ian Bost and Richard Watters. Related Links: People: April 2014 People: February 2014 Woodbine Development Corp. announced several changes to its team. Jim Cihak has been promoted to chief financial officer, following the retirement of Greg Mowatt, the previous CFO. John
AM Agrigen Industries is exploring the potential of developing a $1.2 billion plant to manufacture granulated urea, a widely used fertilizer, in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.The firm is conducting feasibility studies on the project and the prospective site, and the company expects to make a final investment decision in the first quarter of 2015.This move by AM Agrigen could potentially create 150 new direct jobs, and the project could result in an additional 1,025 new indirect jobs, for a total of 1,175 new jobs in the state, according to estimates by Louisiana Economic Development.Construction would begin in mid-2015, with the
Related Links: Pod Pack International Louisiana Economic Development Pod Pack International, a manufacturer of coffee and tea products for roasters and distributors in North America and Central America, has announced a $10.1 million, 75,000-sq-ft expansion at the company’s manufacturing facility in Baton Rouge.According to the firm, the facility expansion and installation of new equipment will allow further expansion of the company’s output to meet the needs of recently secured client contracts. In 2013, Pod Pack produced approximately 100 million pods.“We considered other alternative locations, but we are truly happy we chose Louisiana,” Tom Martin, executive vice president and COO of
Biofuel company Cool Planet Energy Systems recently held a symbolic groundbreaking on a biorefinery in Alexandria, La. Related Links: Cool Planet Energy Systems Dubbed "Project Genesis," the facility will be constructed on a 28-acre site on the Red River Waterway in central Louisiana. It is the first of three biorefineries that Cool Planet will build with a $168 million capital investment in the state to commercialize the company's renewable gasoline blendstocks.Cool Planet Energy Systems Vice President of Business Development Mike Rocke says the refinery will be designed to produce 10 million gallons per year of high-octane, renewable gasoline blends. The
Louisiana is expected to see more than $1 billion of coastal restoration work in the next two years with $489 million of projects under construction and another $600 million of projects scheduled to start by 2015. Related Links: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Kyle Graham, executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, spoke at the State of the Coast conference in mid-March. Louisiana has been promised nearly $2 billion in Clean Water Act and criminal fines from BP and Transocean for their role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Those funds, along with other sources, are expected
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