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This weekly update lists new commercial construction, expansions and enlargements of more than $50,000 in Tulsa. Descriptions of work are described where listed.
Commercial building permits are provided by the city of Tulsa on a weekly basis after entities provide information on upcoming building plans.
They are listed by owner, tenant or building name. Listed cents are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar amount.
The Tulsa World runs this weekly list to inform readers of upcoming or planned projects. For questions, email business@tulsaworld.com.
23-163843 — Tulsa Housing Authority-Pioneer Plaza, 901 N. Elgin Ave., addendum (renovation of an historic 11-story high-rise apartment tower. Includes revisions to the building plans for review), $24,719,788.
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This is part of a $53 million renovation by the Tulsa Housing Authority for low-income tenants, likely saving many of them from homelessness, officials said.
Here are other building permits released last week:
23-158297 — Crossfit Eclipse gymnasium, 9233 S. Mingo Road, Addendum, $1,200,000.
23-161563 — Smoothie King No. 2247, 9679 S. Riverside Parkway, alteration (interior renovation of existing space), $280,620.
23-161401 — 126 Garnett Business Park, 126 N. Garnett Road, Unit H, alteration (personal vehicle repair), $525,642.
23-160231 — Little Light House, 5120 E. 36th St., accessory structure (new splash pad), $165,430.
23-164572 — no entity listed, 575 N. 39th Ave., addendum (submit the pre-engineered metal building plans), $4,756,041.
23-146993 — Facility Fire Brothers, Inc. Marijuana Cultivation Facility, 14720 E. Admiral Place, Unit G, alteration (cannabis grow facility – interior remodel of existing lease space. Minor modifications to existing walls, and addition of three flower rooms), $96,699.
23-160680 — Teens Excelling Beyond Foundation, 234 E. 51st Place, alteration, $197,704.
23-153812 — no entity listed, 3637 N. Birmingham Ave., fence (CMU screen wall), $150,000.
23-151951 — no entity listed, 1738 S. Boston Ave., shell building (build out of an existing lot using the existing walls and an infill on lot 1734), $3,177,892.
23-164347 — no entity listed, 2835 E. Skelly Drive, addendum (new construction of early childhood education facility [daycare]. Fully sprinklered. Includes and ICC 500-2014 compliant storm shelter [not public shelter, only intended for use by staff and children at facility]), $2,694,171.
23-154059 — Seminole Hills Apartments, 2014 N. Utica Ave., 2044 N. Utica Ave., 1637 E. Ute St., 2002 N. Utica Ave., 1651 E. Ute St., 2032 N. Utica Ave., 1613 E. Ute St., and 1601 E. Ute St., alteration (revise unit to meet ADA and ANSI requirements), $87,333 each.
23-153852 — Mohawk Manor Apartments, 3771 N. Birmingham Ave., 3769 N. Birmingham Ave., 3766 N. Birmingham Ave., 2528 E. 37th St., 3764 N. Birmingham Ave., 3646 N. Birmingham Ave., and 2530 E. 37th St., alteration (revise first floor of unit to meet ADA and ANSI requirements), $204,327 each.
23-154190 — Seminole Hills Apartments, 1624 E. Virgin St., alteration (remove office to increase recreation area, replace kitchen cabinets and enlarge front toilet room to meet ADA and ANSI requirements), $1,057,276.
23-152840 — CSL Plasma, 824 S. Cheyenne Ave., alteration (removal/replacement existing freezer unit/roof top condensing units. New roof top freezer refrigeration unit/add structural supports. Break room relocation. Locker area modified in area of new freezer. Minimal new flooring/casework) $286,232.
23-163673 — Starbucks Coffee No. 13,634, 9014 S. Yale Ave., alteration (tenant improvement to existing building. New work includes interior and exterior furniture, flooring, paint, lighting, partition walls, plumbing and associated HVAC and electrical work), $294,005.
23-156688 — Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, 6633 S. Memorial Drive, Unit A, new (new construction of an automotive maintenance and repair shop for non-commercial vehicles. Construction consisting of exterior masonry bearing walls, interior wood framing and pre-engineered wood trusses), $370,385.
23-154034 — Whitlow Town Homes, 1818 N. Rockford Ave., apartments C and D, alteration (revise interior laundry at apartment C to former use of apartment), $149,950 each.
23-153741 — Mohawk Manor Apartments Clubhouse, 3646 N. Birmingham Ave., alteration (replace laundry with offices), $563,761.
23-164582 — no entity listed, 575 N. 39th Ave., addendum (pre-engineered metal plans for distribution facility), $650,000.
23-145423 — SteelTek, 4225 S. Jackson, addition, (permit addition added to existing building without proper permitting. A foundation permit was obtained, no building permit. PEMB was put up in 2020 without authorization), $1,745,726.
23-163242 — Life Time, 10642 S. Memorial Drive, alteration (conversion of five offices into one open office space), $158,190.
23-157295 — Saint Francis Laureate Psychiatric Clinic & Hospital, 6655 S. Yale Ave., alteration (renovation to 1989 building; architectural and electrical updates throughout building; mechanical and electrical updates; renovations in patient care areas on first floor and offices on second floor), $4,019,882.
23-162674 — WPX Building, 222 N. Detroit Ave., alteration (interior buildout of shell space asphalt fuel supply), $2,148,497.
23-163482 — Red Dragon Karaoke, 401 E. Fourth St., alteration (renovating approximately 3,126 square feet into a karaoke bar with no kitchen service), $780,062.
23-161406 — 126 Garnett Business Park, 126 N. Garnett Road, Unit L alteration (bathroom showroom and supplies), $516,251.
The eastern entrance to Larkinville is getting a new look.
Derek Sullivan’s Buffalo Bungalow of Elma is planning to construct six two-story commercial buildings along Seneca and Exchange streets, using a vacant and narrow triangular site near the eastern end of Exchange where it meets Smith Street.
Located at 935-945 Seneca St., with additional land on Exchange, the properties are on the south side of Seneca, north of Exchange. The parcels will be merged for a total of 0.6 acres of undeveloped green space.
The identical Scandinavian-style buildings would be 1,008 square feet each, with a full first floor and a partial mezzanine, for a total of 6,888 square feet. All would have a relatively open interior floor plan for ease of modification. Four buildings would be perpendicular to Seneca with the fronts facing that street, while one would face Exchange and the last would be parallel to the streets, toward the point of the triangle.
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“I think they’re pretty cool,” said James Morrell, chairman of the Buffalo Planning Board, which approved the $2 million project on Monday. “It just brings development to the street, because this was just a desolate wasteland years ago, and turns it into that walkable community.”
The buildings would be targeted toward a mixture of small commercial services, boutique shops and salons, with a coffee shop at the end building, as well as an outdoor seating area and room for a building addition for a kitchen. The project includes 15 parking spaces, with entrances from both Seneca and Exchange.
“Our client has received several inquiries from online entrepreneurs looking for small space in the city to start to realize their brick-and-mortar dreams,” said Greenman-Pederson landscape architect Robert Blood, representing Buffalo Bungalow. “Our client believes this project is in response to that. This is intended to primarily serve the neighborhood as well.”
The $2 million project received seven zoning variances in June. Construction will take about five months.
In other action, the Planning Board:
- Approved a minor subdivision for Christopher Wan’s $10 million project at 147 W. Tupper St., where the contractor plans to demolish several dilapidated and mostly vacant structures and replace them with a four-story brick complex containing 42 new studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and up to seven retail businesses. The site includes 147, 149, 157, 159, 161 and 167 West Tupper and 42 and 44 Trinity Place, which are being combined.
- Approved a one-year extension for TM Montante Development’s adaptive reuse of the former homeopathic hospital building at the former Millard Fillmore Gates Circle site. Montante has been focusing on helping Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York prepare for its neighboring affordable housing project on the rest of that site, but rising interest rates and other factors have hindered its effort to line up the bank financing for its own project.
- Recommended approval by the Common Council for special-use permits for Sheldon Anderson and Omar R. Price to open cannabis stores at 232-234 Allen St. and 1669-1673 Hertel Ave., respectively.
- Recommended approval of a special-use permit for Nabaa Ibrahim to open a neighborhood bar and restaurant at 995 Exchange St.
Reach Jonathan D. Epstein at (716) 849-4478 or jepstein@buffnews.com.
Mondeal Heights Office and Commercial Building / Blocher Blocher India Pvt. Ltd.
Text description provided by the architects. Blocher Partners India, the architects and interior designers behind the highly praised Mondeal Square complex built a further landmark in Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Mondeal Heights, a multifunctional high-end ensemble for business and leisure on 65,000 square meters. A project that integrates itself perfectly within the cityscape.
Road users and passers-by sense what is already one of Ahmedabad’s most iconic twin towers every day. For Hartmut Wurster, Country Head at the architectural office Blocher Partners India, something extraordinary has been created: “The exclusive mix of urban structure and top technological standards provides a haven for India’s modern business world.” The 70-meter-high towers house generous office spaces, conference rooms, and an exclusive clubhouse with fitness center and spa areas. The buildings themselves play with interwoven and shifted elements, which celebrate an urban dynamism. The façade is a grid of open, semi-transparent, and closed rectangles. Hartmut Wurster explains: “Depending on the time of day, the sun casts different shadows on the building envelopes, with an enlivening effect,” and adds: “Seen from afar, the multi-faceted design broadcasts noble exclusivity.” Mondeal Heights is a business center of international standing, adding a new accent to the aspiring metropolis.
Local architects with a global background – “Architecture,” says the Country Head, “is always influencing the character of a city and, simultaneously, an echo of a social movement. Some projects even have a guiding function besides their actual purpose. They stand for a departure, an evolution, a paradigm shift.” The buildings of blocher partners in India always form a harmonious unit with their surroundings; simultaneously, they radiate self-confident individuality. Founded in 1989 by Jutta and Dieter Blocher in Germany, the company responded to the growing requests from Asia with the foundation of a subsidiary company in Delhi. Especially for the Indian clients, it was important to have an office on location. The special competence of the architectural group is the interlocking of structural design and interior design. Any other architectural firm hardly reaches this holistic approach. “We are convinced that such a one-stop concept is the best solution for companies because all areas fit together like the parts of a puzzle,” explains Angela Kreutz, responsible at blocher partners for the Indian market. To stay true to their own demands, the 17-headed team of the Ahmedabad branch office never stands still. “We are always up to date regarding current developments and trends. Therefore, we travel to the world’s most interesting hotspots to be close to the action,” Mrs. Kreutz says.
Ahmedabad has quickly become a second home for the Indian team. Also, thanks to HN Safal, one of the long-time, loyal clients that stand behind visionary real estate like the breathtakingly beautiful Mondeal Square, the one-of-a-kind Mondeal Retail Park – and now also Mondeal Heights. “The close connections led us to lay more emphasis on Gujarat and especially on the city where we feel at home – Ahmedabad,” Hartmut Wurster, Country Head, explains. Blocher Partners India moved to the metropolis in 2009 – and incorporated their office into a self-planned architectural masterpiece: Mondeal Square. A striking building ensemble that – amongst other highlights –boasts India’s largest media façade. “From our office, I sometimes look over the city and think: there are so many more ventures waiting for us down there,” Wurster describes his unbridled ambition to beautify the city with unique buildings.
Blocher Partners India belongs to the most successful architectural offices of our time. But what are their plans for the years to come? The answer is simple: to be where their clients are, accomplish their wishes, and realize their visions. “We will continue to offer our clients the highest quality and sophisticated aesthetics,” Angela Kreutz explains. “Furthermore, our journey through India has just begun. Surely, many exciting tasks are waiting for us.”
Vision matters.
For the past fortnight, the federal government has flailed. A handful of ultraright Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives toppled Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, from his post as a show of power.
McCarthy’s offense was that his devotion to former President Donald Trump and his MAGA followers wasn’t quite slavish enough to suit them. McCarthy also apparently wasn’t willing to completely turn a blind eye to the many ethical and moral transgressions of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, who narrowly dodged prosecution on charges of having sex with minors.
Gaetz said his animus toward McCarthy sprang from the fact that McCarthy lied — an odd complaint coming from a camp follower of a former president who tells a whopper with every other breath he takes.
Since McCarthy fell, other contenders have tried to pull together enough votes to claim the post. Their task has been made more difficult by the fact that saner Republicans have learned from and adopted the same tactics Gaetz used to take down McCarthy. These more balanced Republicans realize that all they need is a handful of votes to keep Gaetz and crew from running the chamber.
Thus, the House has sat as motionless as a battleship without fuel and adrift in a troubled sea.
This aimless drifting has become a cause of consternation for many of the Republican candidates for president — probably because presenting oneself to the voters as the leader of a political party that couldn’t find its way out of a phone booth even with the help of a map, a GPS system and a guide is neither a good look nor a winning appeal.
Normally, impasses such as this one would be resolved by resorting to first principles. The parties involved would get together, remind themselves of the goals they have in common and negotiate a path forward based on that shared commitment.
That’s hard to do, though, when at least one of the parties doesn’t have anything it wants to accomplish.
Part of the reason Trump and the MAGA crowd keep seizing defeat from the jaws of victory is that they don’t have anything positive they want to accomplish with political power when they possess it.
Rather, their motivations are punitive.
Trump wants to return to the White House to exact vengeance on those he sees as his enemies, a list that seems to include everyone who ever has questioned his conduct or refused to shout “Amen!” to any of his pronouncements.
Gaetz and crew are more focused on “owning the libs” and outing those they perceive to be RINOs — Republicans in Name Only — than they are on achieving anything that might help their constituents.
Even their stated priorities — such as building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to keep undocumented immigrants from entering this country — don’t seem to matter that much to them.
For all their caterwauling about the chaos at the border, they have done little to address what they repeatedly call a crisis.
That border runs for just under 2,000 miles. (The exact measurement varies depending upon whether one counts by straight-line air miles or the meandering course of the Rio Grande.)
During the Trump presidency, about 50 miles of border wall were built, leaving more than 1,900 miles open. Even when Republicans controlled both the White House and both houses of Congress, building the wall never made it to the top of the wish list.
Tax cuts for the uberwealthy and shifting wealth upward were considered much more important.
During the nearly three years of the Biden presidency, Republicans have had plenty of opportunities to place building the wall — or any other agenda item — on the table. As the Russia-Ukraine war heated up, it would have been easy for even an unskilled negotiator to bargain for funds to build the wall in exchange for support for Ukraine.
But, for all their caterwauling about the border crisis, Gaetz and crew chose not to do that.
That’s because they care more about putting on a show than getting anything done. They would rather find someone else to blame for a problem than fix it themselves.
Late in the game, there are Republicans who have realized this and are trying to stop the MAGA crowd from turning the House of Representatives into nothing more than a stage for nihilistic performance art.
They have their work cut out for them.
Vision matters.
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.
Dots 2 Commercial Building and House / JYA-RCHITECTS
Text description provided by the architects. The clients had renovated a house several years ago and used it as an office building for a design company. They recently purchased a multiplex housing unit next to it and decided to create housing and small-scale neighborhood living facilities for rent. Having already experienced remodeling before, they were fully aware of the advantages of remodeling and thus wanted to increase efficiency by remodeling the building again if possible. However, considering the recently tightened demolition standards followed by the waste of time and cost, insufficient floor-to-floor height for rent as a neighborhood living facility, and the requirement to demolish the exterior walls to secure minimum parking space, the clients decided that the cost and effort incurred by the remodeling would be greater than the efficiency it may bring. Therefore, we and the clients made a bold move and decided to construct a new building instead.
The site was small, and the required area was already determined, so the building had to be tall and thin. Thus, the top priority in the design process was how efficiently the physical requirements could be met. First, too much parking space will leave almost no space available for rent on the first floor, so there had to be just enough room for one vehicle. The area of rental space was determined accordingly.
Next, the residential space for the client was to be on the 3rd and 4th floors, along with an attic. To maximize the efficiency of the clients’ living space on the 3rd and 4th floors, the stairs from the 1st to the 3rd floor were used to secure ancillary spaces such as the boiler room, machine room, utility room, and storeroom. Since the area for rental space was limited, the plan was to maximize the rental space on the 1st floor while using part of the 2nd floor as ancillary facilities for residence. Accordingly, the 3rd and 4th floors could be used for the major living spaces such as the bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen, and dining area.
After meeting these physical requirements, we thought about how this could harmonize with or be connected to ‘Dots 1’ right next to it. ‘Dots 1’, the company building, had a spatial structure in which the building was open towards the south. A yard remains in the south even after remodeling, and the spaces were connected through the windows and the open doors. Thus, as we planned the second building, we decided to use this yard as a passage that connects the two buildings, as well as a communal yard and a small alley leading to the city. Accordingly, the rental spaces on the 1st floor of the two small buildings can be used as more diverse and spacious spaces by connecting and expanding the first floors of the two buildings through the outdoor space. All these spaces can be used for a single or multiple purposes.
The elevation plan is also made accordingly to emphasize the centrality of these spaces between the two buildings. The new building is mainly divided into rental space and residential space. And there is bigger rental space on the 1st floor and smaller on the 2nd floor. On the other hand, the residential space, which consists of only the front door on the first floor, becomes more spacious going up. According to this program, the spatial composition is revealed on the façade, and the rental space expressed in glass was designed to face the in-between space of these two buildings. This in-between space was intended to be perceived visually as the center of these two buildings.
On the other hand, the material used for the residential space was brick, which has continuity with ‘Dots 1’. Moreover, thick concrete lines were formed at the interface between bricks and glass and lintels to continue using lines, the façade element of ‘Dots 1’. However, the new building needed a different image using similar materials and façade elements. Thus, visual instability and tension were created with the composition of the heavy concrete and brick mass on top of the transparent glass mass and the shape of the upper mass gradually increasing in size as it goes upward.
From a design perspective, it was a significant and interesting project through which we could discover certain spatial and morphological continuity in connecting remodeling and new construction. The clients of Dots are open to anything. Thus, despite the challenges and shortcomings in the first and second projects, they supported us so that we could manifest our somewhat bold ideas into reality without giving up. If the projects have turned out to be successful, it is all thanks to the clients.
UPDATE: Chattanooga firefighters battled a large commercial fire Sunday afternoon.
Moments before 2:30 p.m., Red Shift companies responded to the 600 block of Hudson Road after 911 started taking numerous reports of billowing black smoke in the area.
First arriving units found a vacant building fully engulfed in flames. They established a water supply and set up a master stream, launching a defensive fire attack.
The structure was in the process of being demolished and collapsed on itself as it burned.
With the master stream and multiple hose lines on the ground, the fire was under control in 30 minutes.
Heavy machinery was used on the scene to knock down the remaining wall of the building in order to fully extinguish the blaze.
There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Quint 17, Quint 1, Squad 1, Ladder 1, Quint 14, Squad 20, Engine 12, Battalion 1, Battalion 3, CFD Supply, CFD Investigations, Dallas Bay’s Rehab Unit, HCEMS and CPD responded.
UPDATE: Dallas Bay is currently en route to assist Chattanooga Fire Department with its rehab unit as crews continue to battle the large commercial fire.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Chattanooga firefighters are on the scene of a commercial fire on Hudson Road in Chattanooga.
Red Shift companies are working at this location Sunday afternoon. Please use caution in the area. pic.twitter.com/xiUrJ3kes0
— Chattanooga Fire Department (@ChattFireDept) October 15, 2023
Smoke from the fire can be seen from I-24 at this time.
HAPPENING NOW: We have a crew en route to a commercial fire on Hudson Road in Chattanooga. Smoke from the fire can be seen from I-24 at this time. pic.twitter.com/UAaXxYjttB
— Local 3 News (@Local3News) October 15, 2023
Residents and motorists are asked to avoid the area as crews work.
Local 3 has a crew on the scene and will continue to update as this story develops.
DANVILLE — The Danville City Council’s Public Works Committee took another step in assisting with redevelopment along South Gilbert Street.
The committee Tuesday night recommended approving the acceptance of a small vacant tract from the Danville Sanitary District that once housed a district pump station. The committee also recommended approving a $613,700 professional services agreement with Clark Dietz Inc. for design work for the 5th Street Pump Station elimination and installing about 3,525 lineal feet of gravity sewer down Jefferson Street, Jefferson Street improvements, and amending the fiscal year 2023-2024 fund.
The full city council will act on the items next week.
Aldermen in December 2021 approved purchasing 702 and 718 S. Gilbert St., the old Bullock Garage site, through the Vermilion County Trustee for future development.
City Engineer Sam Cole said there will be almost two acres there for a small development. He said new sewer, also relating to possible future development there, would go down Jefferson Street and involve reconstruction of the roadway from that site north to Bluff Street.
The construction is estimated at $6 million to $7 million. The city would look to apply for another Environmental Protection Agency loan with potential 30 percent principal forgiveness.
“It’s an expensive project but a great opportunity to kind of re-envision what that side of South Danville looks like and make it more appealing to commercial businesses, things like that to locate there,” Cole said.
Cole said Bluff Street, near Subway restaurant, also needs work.
This would likely be a two-year project, he added.
Right of way acquisition will be needed. The city could apply for the EPA grant next year, with construction not starting until 2025 or later.
Cole said he’d rather see this work done now instead of when the South Gilbert Street corridor is redeveloped.
“But it will be super nice when it’s done,” Cole said, about the mess expected with all the work.
Also Tuesday, the committee recommended approving a $485,510 contract with Petry Kuhne Co. for the American Rescue Plan Act funded-project to replace the tennis courts at Lincoln Park. Pickleball lines also will be added to the outside courts. Other bids were $510,161 from Cross Construction and $739,247 from PCC Sports.
In addition, aldermen heard a city streets maintenance work update. City officials say they will be doing follow-up on manhole adjustments, readjusting ones that are rattling vehicles. There also still are sunken manhole issues on Winter Avenue and West Voorhees Street.
In other reports, with fall now here, yard waste pick up is for bags and toters again.
In other business, the committee recommended approving:
- A $29,000 asbestos abatement proposal from Valor Technologies Inc. for a house at 938 N. Gilbert St. to be demolished for the Kirchner Building Center project. Kirchner has been painting the former Goodwill store at Gilbert and Fairchild streets for its new site. A lumber yard will be to the north of the building, where houses are being torn down.
- A professional services agreement for Kickapoo Rail Trail route planning services for the Danville Area Transportation Study. Local officials want to extend KRT from the Vermilion County Fairgrounds to Danville’s Ellsworth Park area, Route 150 corridor. The rail corridor isn’t officially abandoned. This study would look at alternative routes to extend the KRT, environmental and permitting issues, and potential costs. Cole said the city would continue to seek funding to extend it. This study phase would be completed by June 2024. Not all of the KRT is connected yet to Champaign, but Champaign County also continues to work on it.
- Accepting right of way at 1231 N. Jackson St. for the Jackson and Voorhees streets intersection. The intersection improvement has been completed. The city wishes to dedicate additional right of way from the vacant city-owned lot on the southeast side near the sidewalk for maintenance and sell the remaining lot in the side lot program.
- Accepting a $399,000 Illinois Housing Development Authority Strong Communities Program Round 2 grant and amending the budget. The grant is for demolishing around 27 properties the city purchased through the Vermilion County Trustee.
- Authorizing a $10,000 amendment for the current fiscal year Harrison Park Golf Course budget for concessions, cost of goods sold budget, to finish out the year due to selling more items during events.
CONWAY — Narrowing Main Street in North Conway to make it more pedestrian-friendly and dividing the Route 16 strip with a median were two suggestions presented by consultants to the Conway Master Plan Committee.
Representatives of SE Group gave an overview Sept. 28 of the draft chapter on transportation planning.
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AIA East Gateway Commercial & Offices Building / Creative Crews
Text description provided by the architects. Bangna, a district in Bangkok known for its highways, is now emerging as a key logistic corridor to the Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand. AIA East Gateway is the first workplace project to transform Bangna from mundane office towers along dusty roads into a vibrant, active, and friendly work environment.
AIA East Gateway was designed and developed to challenge the conventional office tower model, where people enter through a grand but empty plaza, wait for elevators, and work in bland cubicles. Here, people are welcomed by a water garden, a large bio-retention pond that regulates water levels to prevent flooding in the area and promotes biodiversity. Stormwater is collected and filtered through green roofs and bioswales. The water garden is especially important in this project, as Bangna is below sea level and prone to floods during the rainy season. The proposal combines functionality and aesthetics in one design.
There has been a question if high-density office towers are still relevant in the post-pandemic era when many have adopted work-from-home arrangements. Creative Crews and our clients believe that social interaction and community are essential for enhancing teamwork and productivity. As the drawbacks of working from home become apparent, such as lack of personal space and blurred boundaries between work and life, we reaffirm our conviction that a proper working environment is still needed in today’s society. Moreover, a higher-density workplace allows for sharing an efficient energy system in the building, compared to individual household energy consumption, similar to mass transportation. Together, people can achieve their team goals faster than working individually without communication, just like taking public transport instead of driving their own cars.
The AIA East Gateway building envelope features insulated glass to reduce heat transfer and energy consumption. The sun-shading fins are designed with varying lengths according to the orientation of the building, creating a dynamic facade that enhances the tower massing. The tower massing is shaped to highlight the gaps where sky gardens are located on different floors, creating a spiral effect leading to the tower’s top.
The workplace design aims to attract people back to the office by offering a more hospitable environment than before. The pandemic has changed the workstyle permanently, requiring more flexible and collaborative spaces. The design also promotes a healthy and active lifestyle by integrating exercise spaces, a swimming pool, a jogging track, and biophilic design elements. Edible gardens, landscape trails for walking meetings, and landscape steps for informal gatherings or relaxation are some features that make this office building a new-generation workplace.
This project sets a precedent for densification in the Bangna area, demonstrating how a future workplace can be designed with sustainability, wellness, and innovation in mind.
DANVILLE — A $5.4 million makeover is coming to Danville High School’s Ned Whitesell Field to include artificial field turf, new bleachers, increased handicapped-accessibility, new player tunnels, press box and scoreboard.
The Danville District 118 School Board on Wednesday approved the $5.425 million contract with Petry-Kuhne Co. of Champaign, with a 6-0 vote. School board member Kim Corley was absent.
Two-thirds of the cost is for the bleachers and back of DHS and tunnel construction, according to District 118 Buildings and Grounds Director Skip Truex.
The cost was estimated between $5.2 million to $5.8 million.
The district received three bids for the DHS football field, bleacher replacement and press box project.
Petry-Kuhne Co. had the lowest bid. Other bids were $6.29 million from Schomburg & Schomburg Construction of Danville and $5.65 million from English Brothers Co. of Champaign.
School Board Member Tyson Parks applauded the project. Parks said he’s experienced the bad, crumbling condition of the bleachers behind the high school.
“We’re moving into the 22nd century in a positive manner when it comes to what the school’s going to look like then,” Parks said.
Construction on the project is expected to start at the end of October, after the last home football game this season on Oct. 13. Construction is expected to be completed by the start of the DHS’s next football season at the end of August 2024.
Mark Bacys, former athletic director at DHS and now facilitator of district athletics, said talk about turf for the football field predates him and has been going on for about 15 years. Concerns had been about the cost.
This project, in its roots, is for the bleacher redo, Bacys said.
The 100-year-old concrete has slowly been crumbling and slipping away, he said, of the bleachers and main entrance stairs. The tunnels that the players use to come to the field from the locker rooms also are seeing erosion and are getting to the point where they will no longer be able to be used, he added.
“It’s really about the safety of the bleachers for everyone and the tunnels,” he said.
Bacys said he’s really most excited about the improvements coming for people in wheelchairs and who have a handicap.
“It’s a nightmare for them. It’s inconvenient,” he said about getting around the current facility.
Handicapped access is now offered through the south entrance of the football field, where it’s asphalted with rocks on top. Having to move a wheelchair on that material is “a terrible situation,” Bacys aid.
“That was the impetus for this whole project, more handicapped-acessibility, and making sure the bleachers don’t crumble and tunnels don’t collapse,” he said.
With the heavy machinery and equipment needed to tear out the bleachers, tunnels and everything, and rebuild them in the back of the school, the football field will be torn up.
“Then the field turf is the last piece of this puzzle,” Bacys said.
He said discussions were about replacing the field with grass or turf after re-grading the field.
With all the other improvements that needed to be done, and school district officials wanting to make the facility look beautiful, turf adds to the aesthetics with the DHS logo and branding, Bacys said.
He said people will see all the upgrades, and the turf will make a huge difference too.
The new bleachers will have handicapped seating in the front and along the back walkway. There also will be a sidewalk around the whole complex to also reach the visitor bleachers too.
“It’s going to look beautiful,” Bacys said.
He said the field will be able to be used for more events instead of the practice facility. Weather won’t be an issue where the field will get torn up. It’s mainly used by the football players, girls and boys soccer and marching band now.
“The usage is going to be a tremendous help,” Bacys said. “It’s all coming together.”
He said with the playability and look overall, they felt turf was a better option. The turf will be on sand infill which gives it a little more cushion and helps with cooling.
“We felt this option was the best that was presented to us,” Bacys added.
The bleachers will have a similar set up, with the same rows, with a wider walkway in front and having better handicapped-accessibility when coming in the north entrance with a ramp to the first level and switchback to the second level. There will be first-row seatbacks, middle as is, and last row seatbacks.
“It’s a massive amount of concrete work to do this,” Bacys said.
The field will shift a little and be a little larger.
When soccer teams play, the field isn’t as wide as it should be. The new field will be a full soccer field as well.
There will be new lighting, and new Watchfire videoboard scoreboard, as put in DHS several years ago in the gym to add another dimension for events to promote the students and athletes and have advertising.
“We love Watchfire since they’re local,” Bacys said about their good relationship.
A press box also will be added on the home side, which was needed, Bacys said.
They will be taking out everything back to the building except the 1923-1924 original concrete steps which will be saved. All asphalt will turn to concrete at the complex.
The tunnels will be demolished and rebuilt back. The concession stand is staying.
The turf will have the Danville High School Vikings logo in the middle of the field and have Danville at one end zone and Vikings at the other end zone.
The turf will mean field maintenance costs will decrease, such as with reseeding, grass cutting, painting and lining the field.
Next year’s Week 1 home game will be against Bloomington High School.
In addition to DHS sporting events and the annual Band of Vikings Invitational, other sports could use the new turf down the road, Bacys added.
DHS softball and baseball players could use it when the weather is less than ideal or the ground is still thawing out, to play catch and hit ground balls. They could get out earlier in the season for workouts, Bacys said.
DHS physical education classes also will be able to use it during the school days.
The lifespan for the turf is about 15 years.
With all the renovations also inside DHS with the 1972 addition work, library, auditorium and other spaces, Bacys said “I don’t know if there’s another better looking 100-year-old building in the state.”
He said Superintendent Alicia Geddis and the school board and district officials are making the facility the best it can be for the students and public. He said everyone should feel a sense of pride even more in the facility.
“This is just another example of it,” he added. “It’s going to look great.”
Truex told the school board Wednesday night that the concrete bleachers on the back side of the school are not in very good shape, in addition to the tunnels where the teams come out and other issues such as Americans with Disability Act accessibility for the public to attend sporting games and other functions.
Truex said the school district wouldn’t be able to do a project like this if it didn’t have all the COVID-19 money to free up capital funding for this project. The school district had budgeted for this project.
Truex told the school board members that the field will be pushed to the east and bleachers pushed to the east out beyond where most of the track is currently gone. The entire complex will be fenced in, with gates.
“It’s needed. We have a lot of trip hazards,” he added. “It’s time to do it.”
He added that almost all subcontractors will be local. A lot of stuff has to be removed. He too said they are saving the old sandstone stairs on the back, to work around them.
Truex said the work won’t be ready for 2024’s DHS graduation. School district officials will have to make a decision on that ceremony.
He said the unique cool turf doesn’t get hot. It’s padded with sand.
He added that the ticket booth will still be there. Entrances and exits will be a little larger and formed differently. Some things will be adapted a little as they go along with the project, Truex said.
“We’re excited to see this work,” said School Board President Randal Ashton.