Newsroom Notes: 'Far Horizons' features projects outside Greene County

Much as I enjoy featuring projects from local architects and engineers we do two Architects & Engineers issues every year doing so isn't without challenges. Sometimes it seems as if we are seeing the same projects over and over, not necessarily in those specific issues but in other aspects of our coverage.

After trying to figure out a good way to avoid this, I sought the advice of Editor Clarissa French, who mentioned that several years ago, when she was the editor of the special sections, she did an A & E issue focused solely on projects outside southwest Missouri. The point of that issue was to show our readers what local firms were up to in other areas, while avoiding over-exposure of the same projects.

In July, I sent out questionnaires to local firms, seeking projects located outside Springfield and southwest Missouri.

"Basically, we want to know what you are working on in other areas of the state, other states or other countries," the original letter said.

The initial response was OK, but not nearly as good as is usual for our project requests. Then, I began to get calls and e-mails from local firms inquiring whether the cities of Monett, Cassville and Bolivar were considered southwest Missouri. It turns out, local firms are busy but primarily in cities not so far away.

Finally, we amended our request to include projects that are outside Springfield and Greene County, and that's how we were able to feature the 32 projects on the following pages. Time didn't allow for sending new letters to every firm, but thanks to the telephone and e-mail we got the word out pretty well.

This isn't to say that we don't have projects from far away. There's one in China and one in Fiji. Local firms also are busy in other states including Florida, Arkansas and Nevada.

The state of Missouri itself is a den of activity for Springfield-area firms, too, with projects in Columbia, Jefferson County, Holts Summit, Bakersfield, and yes, Bolivar, Cassville and Monett, among others.

The location of the projects wasn't the only thing we changed for this issue. Generally, in the past, architecture and engineering profiles had to be for projects that weren't yet completed. I decided to bend that rule this time, so some of the projects featured here are already finished. My reasoning is that because we haven't heard of many of these projects, then they're still "newsy" and thus, fair game for inclusion.

The variety of projects we feature in this issue includes churches, a poultry barn, a new school, roadway improvements and a wastewater treatment facility. As a reporter, I'm somewhat nosy by nature, and I always enjoy finding out about the projects local architects and engineers are involved with. This time is no exception, and I hope you enjoy these, too.

For any area firms that, for whatever reason, chose not to submit a project this time around, there will be another A & E issue in early 2004. I'm planning to open the focus of that issue to include Springfield and southwest Missouri and wherever else the jobs might be located.