Industry News

Omaha, Neb.-based Alegent Health is working with contractor McCarthy to develop 443,000 sf of new construction and 158,000 sf of renovation spread over Alegent’s four medical centers in the greater Omaha area. Included in the project is construction of six major structures, the vertical expansion of an existing radiology building, along with significant site and physical plant work. The majority of the work – all to be completed by August 2005 – is being done in and around operational facilities. The project architect is Leo A. Daly of Omaha, Nebr.

The University of California, Davis has topped out the new $28-million Activity and Recreation Center. Designed by Cannon Design of Los Angeles, the 155,000-sf, two-story center is comprised of four adjoining buildings to house a student center with ballroom, conference center, food service, and club meeting rooms. Recreational facilities include basketball and racquetball courts, an elevated indoor running track, a weightlifting room, and a large locker room. A connecting link will join the existing athletic facility, housing an 8,000-seat sports arena, to the new complex.

Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California Medical Center are developing a 600-bed replacement hospital in Los Angeles. Designed by architects HOK of Los Angeles and LBL Associated Architects of Santa Monica, the 1.5 million-sf project will include a seven-story outpatient building, an eight-story inpatient tower, a five-story diagnostic treatment building, and a central energy plant. The project is being constructed by a tri-venture of McCarthy, Clark Construction Group, and the Hunt Construction Group.

West Virginia University has recently completed the Life Sciences Building (LSB), a consolidated facility housing the biology and psychology departments. At 200,000-sf, the LSB is the largest structure on the school's Morgantown campus and is the first facility in the long-range master plan developing the site of the university’s former football stadium and defining a new campus edge.

Oberlin College has completed construction of its new Science Center in Oberlin, Ohio. Replacing the Kettering Science Building built in the 1960s, the new facility is a planned village of appropriately scaled buildings around a unifying “science lawn”. The Science Center houses teaching and research space for biology, chemistry, neuroscience and physics, as well as a new science library, shared lecture halls, and a common area.