ENR Midwest is pleased to announce the winners of its 2022 Best Projects competition. 

The regional contest also features a special award for Excellence in Safety, which is now in its tenth year. An independent panel of safety judges considered many factors in their decisions, including a project’s overall safety program, OSHA recordable incident rate, lost time accident rate and total work hours on the job. This year's safety experts included Jeff Emrick, director of safety and compliance for Ozinga, Sam Mishelow, director of client development for Meyer Najem Construction and Steve Miller, vice president of safety for McCarthy Building Cos. 

This year’s winners are:

Best Project, Excellence in Safety
Case Farms Automated Freezer Expansion
Winesburg,Ohio
Submitted by Primus Builders Inc.

Award of Merit, Excellence in Safety
Skybox Chicago 1
Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Submitted by Turner Construction Co.  

Now on to the winners of ENR Midwest’s Best Projects competition. After a month of hard work, an independent panel of AEC experts reviewed a total of 64 projects and selected 13 for Best Projects recognition and 10 Awards of Merit across 16 categories. As always, to avoid conflicts of interest, judges did not score any categories in which their firms had entries and abstained from scoring if they had any involvement with a project submitted.

A big thanks goes to this year's panel of expert judges: 

Laura Young, CEO, Griskelis Young Harrell
William Haas, vice president, Energy, AECOM
Marc Hanson, senior director of Construction and Operations, CRB Group
Danielle Dy Buncio, CEO, Viatechnik
Lynda Leigh, development manager, Cedar Street
Steve Zimmerman, director, associate principal and unit manager, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. 

In addition to selecting category winners, our judges have also chosen two finalists for ENR Midwest 2022 Project of the Year, with the winner to be announced at the regional Best Projects event in December. We will preview the finalists in another blog leading up to the event.

All winning project teams — as well as the selected Owner of the Year, Design Firm of the Year, Contractor of the Year, Specialty Contractor of the Year and Legacy Award winner will be recognized in Chicago on Dec. 1 at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown.

Click here for more information and to register for the event. 

Congratulations to this year's winners, listed below by category: 

Best Project, Cultural/Worship
Pepper Family Wildlife Center at Lincoln Park Zoo
Chicago
Submitted by Pepper Construction 

Award of Merit, Cultural/Worship
St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church
Omaha
Submitted by Boyd Jones 

Best Project, Energy/Industrial
Delta Energy Park
Lansing, Mich.
Submitted by Barton Malow Holdings LLC 

Best Project, Government/Public Building
City of Johnston’s New Town Center and City Hall
Johnston, Iowa
Submitted by IMEG Corp. 

Best Project, Health Care
Children’s Hospital Hubbard Center
Omaha
Submitted by HDR  

Award of Merit, Health Care
McLaren Greater Lansing Healthcare Campus
Lansing, Mich.
Submitted by The Christman Co. 

Award of Merit, Health Care
OSF Ministry Headquarters
Peoria, Ill.
Pointcore Construction 

Best Project, Higher Education/Research
Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building
Columbia, Mo.
Submitted by Burns & McDonnell 

Award of Merit, Higher Education/Research
University of Minnesota Pillsbury Hall Renovation
Minneapolis
Submitted by IMEG Corp. 

Best Project, Highway/Bridge
I-35 W North Mn Pass
Burnsville, Minn.
Submitted by Ames Construction Inc. 

Award of Merit, Highway/Bridge
Council Bluffs Interstate System Dual, Divided Freeway
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Submitted by HDR 

Award of Merit, Interior/Tenant
Ceres
Omaha
Submitted by Boyd Jones 

Award of Merit, Interior/Tenant
Horizon Therapeutics
Chicago
Submitted by Clune Construction 

Best Project, K-12 Education
Hancock College Preparatory High School
Chicago
Submitted by Legat Architects

Best Project, Landscape/Urban Development
Riveredge Pedestrian Bridge
Aurora, Ill.
Submitted by T.Y. Lin International 

Award of Merit, Landscape/Urban Development
Monon Trail Bridge over 38th Street
Indianapolis
Submitted by CHA Consulting Inc. 

Award of Merit, Manufacturing
Case Farms Automated Freezer Expansion
Winesburg,Ohio
Submitted by Primus Builders Inc.

Best Project, Office/Retail/Mixed Use
320 S. Canal-Union Station
Chicago
Submitted by Clark Construction 

Award of Merit, Office/Retail/Mixed Use
Carson Group Headquarters Goldenrod
Omaha
Submitted by JE Dunn Construction 

Best Project, Renovation/Restoration
Convert Hangar F/20006 for Program Executive Office
Dayton, Ohio
Submitted by American Structurepoint 

Best Project, Residential/Hospitality
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Guest Room Renovation
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Submitted by Granger Construction 

Best Project, Small Project (under $10 million)
J. Rieger Electric Park Garden Addition
Kansas City, Mo.
Submitted by JE Dunn Construction 

Best Project, Sports/Entertainment
American Family Insurance Ampitheater
Milwaukee
Submitted by Hunzinger Construction Co.