Top Projects
The crowd gathers at the 14th annual Top Projects event Thursday at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. More than 400 people attended the event.
After 3-1/2 years of work, the crews behind the $350 million Mitchell Interchange project took home top honors Thursday night at The Daily Reporter’s Top Projects of 2012 event.
The massive interchange project was named Best in Show at the annual awards dinner, which celebrates the best in Wisconsin construction in the past year.
The 30 Top Projects of 2012 winners were selected based on challenges they overcame before and during construction, the benefit the projects offered to the communities they were being built in and any advancement they provided to the state’s construction industry.
The Daily Reporter’s panel of industry judges then selected the Best in Show from those 30 winning projects. The judging panel included:
- Jeff Beiriger, president, Association/Management Services Inc.
- Gene Guszkowski, president, AG Architecture Inc.
- Ken Kraemer, executive director, Building Advantage
- Michael MacLeish, director of engineering, SPI Lighting Inc.
- John Mielke, president, Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin Inc.
- Robert Rayburn, executive vice president, National Electrical Contractors Association Inc. – Milwaukee chapter
The judges were impressed by the Mitchell Interchange’s complexity, scope and positive impact on the community.
“To take a major artery in Wisconsin and minimize disruption is truly remarkable,” said Beiriger, president of Association/Management Services Inc.
Mielke, president of Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin Inc., noted the project “was the most complex part of the largest transportation project in the state’s history.”
And Guszkowski, president of AG Architecture Inc., said “sometimes I will go out of my way just to drive through the tunnels.”
The winning project team was presented with its special award at the conclusion of Thursday’s Top Projects of 2012 event at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. More than 400 people attended the sold-out awards dinner and presentation, now in its 14th year.
Best in show
Each year, a panel of industry judges select the Best in Show from the Daily Reporter’s Top Projects. This year’s winner is …
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124th Street
Construction team revives a crumbling road
Seeing for the first time the wasteland that was 124th Street between Milwaukee and Waukesha counties made it clear to Brad Abraham just how difficult his company’s job would be.
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2550 University Avenue Apartments
Developer, neighbors find common ground for project
It wasn’t the cherry wood cabinets that won the day. Nor was it the floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless steel appliances or the wrought-iron balcony just begging for a potted geranium.
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Alterra Bayview Café & Bakery
Alterra takes project changes in stride
Alterra Coffee Roasters rarely orders “the usual” for its neighborhood cafes.
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Beloit Apartments Redevelopment
Beloit housing work boosts a community
Coordination, cost control and working around those who must live in the midst of construction are some of the most difficult aspects of a home renovation.
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Black River Falls Dam
Mead and Hunt navigates uncharted waters
When Mead and Hunt Inc. engineers began design work to replace the Black River Falls Dam and build a new low-flow powerhouse, they entered uncharted territory.
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Clock Shadow Building
Clock Shadow takes sustainability to a new level
In the mind of architect Dan Beyer, the Clock Shadow Building epitomizes the word “sustainability.”
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De Pere Riverwalk and Wildlife Viewing Pier
De Pere Riverwalk a boon to local economy
Providing pedestrian access to the historic De Pere Lock presented construction and engineering managers with significant challenges.
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Former Getzen Co. Remediation
Cleanup team finds potential in toxic wasteland
The abandoned Getzen Co. site left the city of Elkhorn with an eyesore and a toxic threat to public health.
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Gundersen Lutheran Behavioral Health Building
Gundersen team blends security, compassion
There are unavoidable safety realities for those who help people in the darkest hours of their mental health problems.
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Hilton Garden Inn Milwaukee
Hilton team finds treasures in Loyalty Building
People who renovate century-old buildings expect the unexpected.
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Langlade Critical Access Hospital
Broad feedback fuels hospital design
Employees and patients played the roles of designers and planners during the preparation for the $47 million Langlade Hospital in Antigo.
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Lapham Park Revitalization
Senior housing gets a refresher
Milwaukee’s Lapham Park senior-housing program has won national awards for providing innovative care to some of the city’s senior residents.
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Marinette Marine Paint Facility
Unusual requests alter Marinette Marine design
Designing and constructing a unique and ergonomically enhanced paint building in less than 10 months was a monumental task for engineers and crews.
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Mitchell reconstruction succeeds with shrewd decisions
Mitchell Interchange
The little things made the difference on the massive Mitchell Interchange reconstruction in Milwaukee County.
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The Moderne
The Moderne keeps it local
The product of Milwaukee’s “native sons,” The Moderne has a local feel from the penthouse floor contractors to the atypical foundation.
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Pius XI High School’s Father Robert V. Carney Performing Arts Center and Wendy Lindsey Theater
Pius XI plays it by ear in new theater
When the stage lights shine and the performers sing in the darkened Wendy Lindsey Theater at Pius XI High School, patrons might feel as if they are in a towering cathedral.
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Resilience Research Center
Resilience crew creates a green machine
Construction for the Resilience Research Center started far deeper than is typical for a project.
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Rogers Memorial Hospital Experiential Therapy Inpatient Treatment and Child & Adolescent Centers
Hospital replicates look and feel of home
On the western edge of Upper Nashotah Lake sits what looks like a stately English manor: a cluster of large, redbrick buildings stylized with white trim, ornate columns and multi-pane windows.
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Selig-Joseph Theater
Theater caps Milwaukee park’s revival
The Selig-Joseph Theater in Milwaukee represents a departure from the ordinary both in its design and its symbolism for a neighborhood.
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The Stream, Edgewood College
The Stream saves the tree
The builders of The Stream, Edgewood College’s new visual and theater arts center in Madison, relied on an arborist, an archeologist and an architect to get the job done right.
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Summerfest South End Development-Phase II
Summerfest sets its next stage
If the nine permanent stages dotting Summerfest were the national acts and the Marcus Amphitheater was the headliner, then the south end stage of the grounds was the band still paying its dues.
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UW-Eau Claire W.R. Davies Student Center
‘Every student’ inspires UW-Eau Claire
Who is Laura?
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UW-Madison Biochemical Sciences Complex
Research complex balances old and new
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new Biochemical Sciences Complex was built for the future while protecting the site’s past.
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UW-Madison LaBahn arena
Findorff turns theory into LaBahn’s reality
It took a couple of years, but the German student’s BubbleDeck suggestion finally paid off for J.H. Findorff & Son.
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UW-Whitewater Laurentide Hall
Project gives college a new home
From the two walls of windows in her fourth-floor office, Mary Pinkerton’s view of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus can stun visitors.
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The Watermark
Persistence pays off at Green Bay’s waterfront
Green Bay locals weren’t shy about their skepticism of potential interlopers unfurling a new vision for an aged section of their downtown waterfront.
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Westlawn Gardens
Construction team rebuilds Westlawn from the ground up
The Westlawn Gardens construction team proved that, sometimes, the best way to revive a struggling neighborhood is to knock it down and start over.
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Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Family Care Center
Crew rescues St. Michael’s site from the flood
When Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare closed St. Michael Hospital in Milwaukee in 2006, the property’s future was a big question
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Wisconsin Energy Institute
Sustainable UW building enhances collaboration
Sparks of insight often emerge out of the blue, but they’re no accident at the Wisconsin Energy Institute.
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The Women’s Community Inc. Shelter Facility
Women’s Community perseveres for new home
Staff members and designers at The Women’s Community got their happy ending: a shelter for domestic violence victims along with community support illustrated by 1,000 wall signatures.
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Top Projects of 2011
The Daily Reporter hosted its annual Top Projects 2011 event Thursday at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)
For the first time in its history, The Daily Reporter declared not one, but two Best in Show winners at its annual Top Projects event Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Marquette University Engineering Hall and UW-Madison Union South took top honors at the event, which celebrated the 30 best projects completed in Wisconsin in 2011.
The 30 Top Project of 2011 winners were selected based on challenges they overcame before and during construction, the benefit the projects offered to the communities they were being built in and any advancement they provided to the state’s construction industry.
The Daily Reporter’s panel of industry judges then selected the Best in Show from those 30 winning projects. The judging panel included:
• Jeffrey Beiriger, executive director, American Subcontractors Association of Wisconsin Inc.
• Ken Kraemer, executive director, Building Advantage
• Jayne Martinko, president, The American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin Inc.
• Robert Rayburn, executive vice president, National Electrical Contractors Association Inc. – Milwaukee chapter
• Matt Rinka, principal, Rinka Chung Architecture Inc.
• Steve Stone, president, Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin Inc.
This year there was a tie at the top, resulting in the two winners. Marquette University Engineering Hall was lauded, in particular, for its design, which joins classrooms with lab space in the view of passersby. UW-Madison Union South was noted for integrating student ideas in a space for the campus and community at large.
Both project teams were presented with special awards at the conclusion of Thursday’s Top Projects of 2011 event at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee. More than 400 people attended the awards dinner and presentation, now in its 13th year.
– Caley Clinton
WATCH ALL THE TOP PROJECTS VIDEOS
After-school special: Alternative Learning Center for the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
Transforming the former Allis Chalmers executive office building into an up-to-code educational center for the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District took a lot more than incorporating the school colors, although that definitely was part of it.
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Whey to go: Beaver Dam Wastewater Treatment Facility
Dealing with dairy factory excess could qualify as a classic Wisconsin problem.
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Joining the club: Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha
The new Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha is a working example of the value of teamwork.
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Building a work of art: Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin
Working on the expansion of the Chazen Museum of Art in the middle of the University of Wisconsin campus was something completely new for Madison-based J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.
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A shared success: The Cornerstone
It took two villages to raise The Cornerstone on Oakland Avenue.
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Another point of view: Empowerment Village – Lincoln
When neighbors learned about an affordable housing project along historic Lincoln Avenue, the biggest concern wasn’t necessarily the mentally ill and formerly homeless people who would be moving into their south side Milwaukee neighborhood.
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Fitchburg’s new chapter: Fitchburg Public Library
A history of Fitchburg’s first public library includes anonymous riches, a fervent green streak, agile approaches to budgeting and construction and a back story of more than two decades of public debate.
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Building a butter empire: Grassland Dairy Products Expansion
The owners of Grassland Dairy Products have a vision for their future, and it includes a whole lot of butter.
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Crossing that bridge: Highland Road Bridge over I-43
Timing is everything in most construction projects and that definitely was the case during the summer of 2011 as crews replaced the Highland Road Bridge over Interstate 43 in Mequon.
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A lesson in teamwork: Indian Trail High School & Academy
The crews working on the 420,000-square-foot Indian Trail High School & Academy project were given a crash course in teamwork as they tried getting the building ready in August.
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Watching the bottom line: Junior Achievement Kohl’s Education Center
The Junior Achievement Kohl’s Education Center is a lesson in economics in more ways than one.
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Library turns the page: Kilbourn Public Library
From roof to basement, the project team for the Kilbourn Public Library renovation and addition had plenty of challenges.
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Out in the open: Marquette University Engineering Hall
The development of a new hall for Marquette University’s College of Engineering offered a unique test of Newton’s laws of motion, velocity and pressure.
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Out with the old: Miller Park Scoreboard
To get a second look at that 10th inning, playoff clinching single by Milwaukee Brewer Nyjer Morgan, thousands of fans at Miller Park turned their eyes to the centerfield scoreboard.
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Neighborhood protest: Milwaukee Public Library – Villard Square Branch
The six silhouettes hold protest signs and stand before a large, open book in the main corridor of the Milwaukee Public Library – Villard Square Branch.
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Achieving a lofty goal: National Avenue Lofts
A combination of creativity and persistence turned a weed-choked former parking lot for trucks into the National Avenue Lofts housing complex in Milwaukee.
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Strength in numbers: St. Catherine’s Medical Center Campus Vertical Expansion
St. Catherine’s Medical Center’s three-story vertical expansion not only made the building taller, it made it stronger.
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Riding the financial wave: Saint John’s On the Lake
After navigating rough financial seas, the $50 million Saint John’s on the Lake expansion project not only survived, it’s thriving.
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An off-season encore: Summerfest South End Development – Phase I
Given their repeat construction performances at Milwaukee’s Summerfest grounds, a handful of architects and contractors are something like off-season roadies for the music festival’s home base.
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More than just a building: The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center
When a building is constructed for the community as a whole, it becomes imperative that it is a living, breathing part of the community. The Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Green Bay is an example of such a building.
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Tried and Truax: Truax Park Redevelopment
The challenges began for the Truax Park Redevelopment in Madison long before contractors walked onto the site.
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By popular demand: UW-Madison Union South
Designers expected student input for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Union South project, but they scarcely imagined getting ideas from 20,000 people.
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Centering the arts: UW-Parkside Rita Tallent Picken Regional Center for Arts and Humanities
A four-year, $31 million construction project at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha has improved the school’s music, theatre and visual arts facilities for students and the community.
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Mission accomplished: YWCA Madison-Mifflin Street
When a leaking roof and outdated mechanical systems began to threaten the YWCA’s central mission — providing shelter and affordable housing to Madison’s disadvantaged population — the organization knew it was time for a major renovation.
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Dogs have their day: Wisconsin Humane Society – Ozaukee Campus
The full-time tenants aren’t talking, but architect Tim Hansmann really didn’t expect much feedback from them.
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Along for the ride: Zippin’ Pippin’ Roller Coaster
Miron Construction crews faced a steep learning curve when the company took on construction of a wooden roller coaster in Green Bay.
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GREEN PROJECTS
Second life: Potawatomi Administration Building demo
When the Forest County Potawatomi Community needed to take down one of the buildings on its administrative campus, it opted against the easy route.
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Little wasted: UW-Madison Biochemistry Expansion
J.H. Findorff & Son blew way past standard construction waste recycling rates on the University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry complex and, along the way, helped the state set new benchmarks.
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Building for the future: UW-Oshkosh Sage Hall
After 40 years of waiting, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh got a new academic building this past year with the completion of Sage Hall.
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Waste not, want not: UW-Stevens Point Waste Education Center
The new Waste Education Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point began its teachings long before it was built.
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Top Projects of 2009 Event Photos and Video
