Industry News

Weslaco Hospital recently broke ground on a new 40,000-sf Conference Center at Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco. Constructed by contractor McCarthy, the $4.8-million project will house a 4,800-sf multipurpose meeting room seating 200, three classrooms seating 25, a computer lab, and Education Department offices. The facility will also house the Diabetes Center, Accreditation, Quality Management, and the Hospital Information Services departments. Designed by PageSoutherlandPage of Houston, the project is slated for completion in February 2004.

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. has completed the $24-million renovation of the 101-year-old Carnegie Library building to create the City Museum. The facility opened as a 60,000-sf museum on May 15, 2003. The renovation project included a 150-seat theater, extra museum space and offices for the historical society, as well as updated HVAC, wiring, and adaptations for technology. The City Museum now accommodates 12,000 sf of exhibit galleries, an archeology lab, an education center, a public research library, a café, and a museum store.

The University of California Berkeley has selected a development team led by Allen & O’Hara of Memphis to develop the 135-million, 26-acre University Village project in Albany. The project includes 30 units of housing for junior faculty and 587 units of rental housing for 1,034 graduate students.

Florida photomask maker Photronics will open a new $300-million fabrication center in Shanghai, China. The company also occupies facilities in Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

New York Life Insurance Co. will locate its new $140-million Forsyth County data center in The Meadows 300, a 95,000-sf BellSouth Entertainment unit facility. Slated to begin operations by year-end 2003, the data center will store and handle customer files.