Great Streets Program Gets Bigger

The Great Street program in Washington, D.C., is getting close to awarding contracts. Also, largest BRAC project is underway in Fairfax County.

Great Streets Gains Speed

WASHINGTON, DC - The vision for Washington, D.C.'s Great Streets Program is gaining focus. HNTB of Washington is the latest addition to a growing team of Mid-Atlantic firms working on the four-year $100 million initiative. The District Department of Transportation selected HNTB as the prime consultant on the Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue project this summer. The firm is providing civil design and program management. Design of the $8 million job is scheduled for completion in July 2007 with construction bids expected next summer.

The MLK project is one of six corridors planned for renovation under the Great Streets Program. The initiative, which was announced by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams in March 2005, is intended to restore major gateway street corridors back to their original prominence and revitalize surrounding neighborhoods. A street car program has also been considered for several of the corridors. Street cars could be running on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue by 2008, according to HNTB project manager Peter Bonaccorsi.

Other corridors in the program include Georgia Avenue/7th Street NW, H Street/Benning Road NE, Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE, Minnesota Avenue NE/SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE.

Legion Design/Campbell Associates of Washington is overseeing the $14 million Pennsylvania Avenue project. NHTB is serving as a sub-consultant on that project. Volkert & Associates of Washington is in charge of the H Street corridor.

The first bids for construction contracts are expected to go out by the end of the year, according to the District Department of Transportation.

PBS&J, SOM Ready Ft. Belvoir for BRAC

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA - A joint venture of PBS&J of Tampa, Fla., and Skidmore Owings & Merrill of New York is heading up the largest military base transformation under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure plan. The Washington-area firms won a $60 million contract for master planning, design, engineering, and program integration of realignment at Ft. Belvoir in Fairfax County, Va.

The team will ready the base for the arrival of 22,000 military and civilian personnel, building an additional six million sq. ft. of space with supporting infrastructure. Initial plans include a new urban center comprised of offices, open spaces, and community facilities, as well as infrastructure including utilities, communications systems, roads and transit opportunities.

The Ft. Belvoir master plan is expected to bring a tremendous amount of opportunities for Mid-Atlantic contractors in the coming years.

"This is one of the most important projects in northern Virginia in recent history and offers remarkable opportunities and challenges," Ed Feiner, director of SOM's Washington office.

Skanska Ups Higher Ed Portfolio with $44 million VCU deal

RICHMOND, VA - Skanska USA Building has an extensive resume of higher education work in the Mid-Atlantic and southeast. The Raleigh, N.C., firm was selected by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., to provide preconstruction and construction management services for its $44.5 million second Medical Sciences Building (MSB II).

Ballinger of Philadelphia is the architect. Completion is scheduled for 2008.

The MSB II project follows up Skanska's March completion of the $34 million Massey Cancer Building, which is located 500 ft. from the new project. Skanska will utilize the same project team from the Massey Center on MSB II, according to Scott MacLeod, Skanska area general manager.

The 125,000-sq.-ft. Medical Sciences Building II project will be used primarily for education and research, with laboratories located throughout the building. The new addition will be adjoined to the existing Konto's Medical Sciences Building (MSB I). A stadium-style lecture hall will be part of the ground floor.

Skanska is making itself at home on several campuses in the area. The firm was kept particularly busy in the North Carolina triangle, working on projects at Duke University, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The state is also working on a project at East Carolina University.

Centex Crafts $40 Million Roanoke Museum

ROANOKE, VA - Construction crews are currently crafting the 81,000-sq.-ft. Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke, Va. Centex Construction of Fairfax, Va., was selected as the general contractor on the $40.5 million project this spring. Los Angeles-based Randall Stout Architects, Inc., and Rodriguez Ripley Maddux Motley Architects or Roanoke designed the project.

Exploratory digging began in May, followed by site preparation. Crews completed demolition of the existing structures on the site in June. Preparation work for foundations included the use of compacted stone columns. Completion in scheduled for spring 2008.

The new museum, which is located in downtown Roanoke, is designed with a composition of flowing, layered forms in stainless steel, patinated zinc and high-performance glass.

The museum will feature exhibit space, an auditorium, a library and study
center, an interactive gallery and art center for children, theater space,
a book and gift shop, a café, an art studio and an atrium.

Walter Reed Project Gets Second Chance

WASHINGTON, DC - Ground has broken on the new $10 million amputee training center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center - again.

Military officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the two-story, 31,000-sq.-ft. project in November 2004. However, the project was thrown into limbo last year when projects were put on hold while the Base Closure and Realignment Commission considered the fate of military facilities around the country. Although the commission recommended closing Walter Reed and moving facilities to Bethesda by 2011, officials decided to continue the amputee training center project. The center will serve as a transitional facility until operations are up and running in Bethesda.

Turner Construction of Arlington, Va., is the general contractor on the project, which is scheduled for completion in October 2007 - nearly two years after the originally-scheduled completion date. The training center will include climbing walls, a running track, military vehicle simulators, labs and a counseling center.

UMBC to Build $132 Million Arts Center

CANTONSVILLE, MD - The University of Maryland, Baltimore County is acting on plans to build a new $132 million fine arts center. Bids are out for design of the new building, which will house the school's arts, English and philosophy departments.

Following evaluations of firms and oral presentations, the university board will review recommendations in October, according to UMBC officials. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2010 with completion in 2013.

The project is split into two phases. The first phase, which is expected to cost between $55 million and $60 million, will focus on building performance spaces and the infrastructure between the new building and UMBC's central plant. Classrooms and support facilities will be part of the second phase.

When complete, the center will include a 425-seat concert hall, a 300-seat theater, a dance studio and a recital hall, Donnell said.

Grunley Lands $30 Million Tyson's Renovation

VIENNA, VA - Grunley Construction is taking its renovation expertise to Tyson's Corner. The Rockville, Md., company has been awarded a construction management contract by Goldstar/Transwestern to renovate Liberty Park at Tyson's.

Grunley's contract is a cost-plus-fee agreement that will evolve to a firm fixed price over time. The total project cost will be nearly $30 million, including the base project amount, the tenant improvements, and security upgrades.

Hickok Cole Architects of Washington, D.C. is the architect. The fast-track project is scheduled for completion in June 2007.

The scope of work on the three-story 200,000-sq.-ft. structure will include replacement of the façade with a new architectural precast panel and glass system. The roof will also be replaced. Upgrades will bring it up to current building standards and systems.

Design Underway on Jewish History Museum

PHILADELPHIA - Design is underway on the new home of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Pa. James Polshek of New York is the architect. Gallagher & Associates of Bethesda, Md., is designing the exhibits. The museum is expected to open in late 2009.

The new building will be built one block from its current location on Independence Mall, halfway between Independence Hall and the city's new Independence Visitor Center.

Gallagher & Associates has been involved in other recent museum projects chronicling Jewish history. The firm also designed the 20,000-sq.-ft. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Beachwood, Ohio, which opened in September 2005.

Lerner to Expand Tyson's II with 18-Story Office Building

VIENNA, VA - Lerner Enterprises of North Bethesda, Md., will add to the expanding skyline of Tyson's Corner, Va., next summer. The company announced that it will develop an 18-story, 472,000-sq.-ft. office tower at The Corporate Office Centre at Tyson's II.

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates of New York is the architect. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2006 with completion in 2009. The project value was not disclosed.

Typical floors will be approximately 29,000 sq. ft. with average floor-to-ceiling heights of 9 ft. Building amenities will include a fitness center, an upscale restaurant and café, as well as banking and other retail services.

Designers are seeking a LEED rating for the building, adding elevators, mechanical systems and high-performance glass intended to help it achieve Energy Star's highest rating.

The project is the latest addition to Lerner's Tyson's II development. The site currently has 1.4 million sq. ft. of built space. An additional 2.5 million sq. ft., including five more office buildings and a high-rise/luxury condominium tower can be developed on the site.

The new tower will be tied in with other developments on the site through a prominent enclosed pedestrian bridge system that will cross Tysons Boulevard and connect to other buildings.

PSA-Dewberry Gets Firm Footing in Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD - Fairfax, Va.-based Dewberry is looking to expand the presence of its PSA-Dewberry affiliate in the Baltimore area. The company has set up PSA-Dewberry operations in Dewberry's existing Baltimore office.

Eric Snellings will head up the PSA-Dewberry expansion into Baltimore, eventually creating a full-size regional office. PSA-Dewberry has seven other regional offices around the country.

PSA-Dewberry has been building an extensive portfolio of projects in Maryland, particularly in correctional design and public safety architecture. Current Maryland projects include work at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Thurmont Public Library, and the Annapolis District Court.