Contractors hand out annual awards

Springfield Landmarks Preservation Trust received the Developer of the Year Award for its work at the Gillioz Theater and the neighboring Morris Building. The project, 16 years in the making, cost about $10 million. Construction, which had been ongoing for nearly three years, wrapped up with several days of grand opening events at the theater in early October.

Darrell Montgomery of DeWitt and Associates also earned Superintendent of the Year honors, and Robert Naftzger of Conrad Schmitt Studios was named Craftsman of the Year, both for their work on the Gillioz project.

Across town, a project of a very different sort earned Stephanie Ireland the SCA Architect of the Year Award.

Ireland was recognized for her work in remodeling The Kitchen’s Medical Clinic, 1630 N. Jefferson Ave. Clinic officials said the $300,000 project, funded by a three-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, wouldn’t have been possible without donated services and materials from companies such as Ireland & Associates, which designed the new space.

Ireland said her work was just a small part of what made the project possible.

“I donated my time, asked the engineers to do the same, and they did,” she said. “The contractors donated a lot of their time, and they talked to the subcontractors and had them donate some time and materials. All I did was push the snowball a little bit – everybody else jumped on.”

See SBJ’s Nov. 13 issue for more on the SCA awards.