City Utilities nabbed Developer of the Year honors for the construction of the $697 million John Twitty Energy Center, formerly known as Southwest Power Station II, during the Nov. 3 Salute to Construction banquet. The award was among several professional honors bestowed during the event.
The banquet, organized by the Salute to Construction Council comprising more than 20 building and design industry groups, is in its 20th year. The council’s goals are to increase community awareness of job and economic opportunities in construction, to encourage young people to pursue careers in the industry and to celebrate industry accomplishments.
The Developer of the Year Award is presented by Springfield Contractors Association, one of the groups represented on the Salute to Construction Council. SCA President Rich Kramer spoke briefly about CU’s power station project, noting that more than 2.6 million construction man-hours were logged on the project, which recorded only eight lost-time incidents. At the project’s peak, nearly 700 workers were on the job for more than nine months.
"At least 16 Springfield contractors worked on the project," Kramer said, noting more than $160 million went back into the Springfield community. "This means jobs for a ... number of people during a time when jobs have been scarce."
The project's construction and design costs totaled $550 million.
The Springfield chapter of the American Institute of Architects presented its Craftsman of the Year Award to Brent Cruse of DeWitt & Associates for his role in the $6.8 million Christopher S. Bond Learning Center project at Missouri State University’s Darr Agricultural Center. AIA Springfield President Brandon Dake said Cruse was chosen as a result of the special interest he took in the construction of the 27,331-square-foot center, including specific attention to minute details involved in the work, such as applying patterned panels to a convex wall in the main lobby.
Other professional awards:
- The Project Team of the Year was presented by SCA to MSU for its multimillion-dollar residence life renovations, completed in roughly three months, with many of the facilities remaining open for use during construction. Kramer said renovations included more than 1 million square feet of wall space painted with more than 3,000 gallons of paint with more than four acres of carpet installed. At the peak of the $11 million renovation projects, approximately 250 workers were on-site at a time. MSU’s project team was: DeWitt & Associates; Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. and John Williams Architecture; Interior Planning Consultants; Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins Inc. and Structural Engineering Associates.
- The Superintendent of the Year award was presented by AIA-Springfield to DeWitt superintendents Kelly Troup, Randy Lee and Darryl Montgomery for their leadership roles in the MSU residence life renovations project.
- The Rosebud and Vesta awards were presented by the local chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction to Courtney Johnson of Faith Technologies and architect Pam Haldiman of Sapp Design Associates, Architects PC. The Rosebud Award recognizes a woman who has worked in construction for less than a decade, while the Vesta Award is for those with more than 10 years of experience.
Numerous students pursuing construction- and design-related degrees received scholarships from industry groups, and the winners of the 2011 Faces & Places of Construction Photo Contest also were recognized.
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