YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The sentiment was evident as a project with architectural changes midway through and a developer who’s changed the face of a city block took home top honors during last night’s 2015 Salute to Design and Construction awards banquet at the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center.
The Vecino Group LLC won Developer of the Year honors for its $30 million metamorphosis of downtown Springfield’s Park Central East along Jefferson Avenue. The self-described social developer tackled four long-vacant downtown pillars during the past year, transforming the Landmark building into The Frisco, the Woodruff building into Sky Eleven, the McDaniel building into The U and the Sterling Hotel into The Sterling.
“In 2011, with the downturn, Matt said he was done, but I said he was crazy, he had already come so far,” said developer Stacy Jurado Miller, of her husband and company CEO Matthew Miller. “It’s a brave move to say, ‘I’m going to be a developer,’ and to say we are going to address broader social issues though housing development took guts for this whole team.”
Project Team of the Year honors went to the professionals behind Springfield Public Schools’ $18 million Sherwood Elementary School. Led by general contractor DeWitt & Associates Inc., the design and construction team included Sapp Design Associates Architects PC, engineers Olsson Associates Inc., Toth and Associates Inc. and Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins Inc.
The 500-student school project, which features classroom pods and a 5,500-square-foot Boys & Girls Clubs unit, took a dramatic turn midway through construction when new Superintendent John Jungmann wanted to change the building’s design style to further embrace the collaborative education model.
“There was a lot to coordinate and a lot of site issues that messed up the sequence of events,” Sapp Design lead designer Brad McKenzie told the record audience of roughly 460 industry leaders who turned out for the 31st annual event. “But DeWitt was flexible and made it happen.
“The school had an open house the day before class started and I think we had contractors going out the back door as teachers were coming in the front.”
Other honors of the night went to the team behind construction of the Missouri State University O’Reilly Clinical Health Science Center. M&I Drywall LLC and DeWitt & Associates Inc. received the Craftsman of the Year award from the American Institute of Architects. Michael Rand of Carson-Mitchell Inc. was named AIA Superintendent of the Year for his work on four highly technical projects in the Branson area: Tri-Lakes Biosolids Regional Drying Facility, the Cooper Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Compton Drive Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Hollister Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Southwest Missouri Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction also honored three females in the trade. The Rosebud award, which honors a woman with under 10 years of construction experience, went to Stephanie Bedinghaus of Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative. Honoring women with over 10 years of construction experience, the Vesta Award had its first-ever tie. Debra Speake of Springfield Electric LLC and Sheila Branison of Emery Sapp & Sons Inc. each took home the honor.?
The 2015 ceremony was organized by the Salute to Design and Construction Council, which represents 26 organizations including the Springfield Contractors Association, Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the AIA, NAWIC and several unions.
Reporter Brian Brown contributed to this article.
A food truck that launched last year rebranded and moved to Metro Eats; automotive repair business Mitchem Tire Co. expanded its Christian County presence; and O’Reilly Build LLC was acquired.