Daily Reporter honors its Top Projects of 2014

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The Daily Reporter honored its 36 Top Projects of 2014 on Thursday night at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee. About 600 industry professionals turned out for the annual event.

Staff photos by Kevin Harnack

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CHECK OUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION OF THE TOP PROJECTS OF 2014 MAGAZINE

Meet the 2014 Top Projects:

Wastewater project proceeds largely outside gleam of public spotlight
9 Springs WWTF/11th Addition

It’s not that Jeff Klawes isn’t proud of the work he has helped do for the Madison Metropolitan Sewage District, where he works as a project engineer.

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Mortenson earns its stripes with flagpole project
ACUITY Insurance Flagpole

When a company is working on the tallest flagpole in North American, and the project lies just off an interstate and at the site of a large regional employer, it’s bound to attract some attention.

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Rain doesn’t dampen new Airgas distribution center
Airgas Safety, Inc.

It took nearly 10 years to plan the new Airgas Safety distribution center, but crews had a mere 7-1/2 months to build it.

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Adelman family preserves Wright’s vision in restoration
Albert and Edith Adelman Residence

Frank Lloyd Wright’s unofficial “camp” in Fox Point has been restored for architectural enthusiasts and future generations of the Adelman family.

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Planning, communication key to finishing Alliant Energy Center Pavilions on time
Alliant Energy Center New Holland Pavilions

The timeline was tight. Construction crews and contractors had 4-1/2 months to dismantle and rebuild a 290,000-square-foot addition to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

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Getting to the heart of the matter
Aspirus Wausau Hospital – Surgery & Cardiovascular Addition

The Aspirus Wausau Hospital is well known for its treatments of the cardiovascular system. A recent expansion and improvement of the hospital will help the staff there continue to provide those services to the region.

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Park East looks to future with Avenir Apartments
Avenir Apartments

The crew at VJS Construction Services Inc. knew all eyes were on them when they began building the Avenir Apartments in Milwaukee.

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New VA center does service to the community
Department of Veterans Affairs – Community Resource & Referral Center

A forgotten 7,542-square-foot historic cream-city brick building was recently renovated to provide critical resources and referral services to local veterans.

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Deep space project is truly Epic
Epic Deep Space Auditorium

Dan Swanson got quiet for a moment before he explained just how epic it was to work on the Epic Deep Space auditorium.

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Southern design finds home in Wisconsin athletics building
Hamilton School District Indoor Athletic Facility

High-school sprinters were taking part in track-and-field sports on terrazzo and tile, and cheerleaders were shaking their pompons to the scent of cafeteria pasta.

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Hunzinger’s fluid schedule helps speed JC office move
Johnson Controls, Inc. Hawley Road Facility Project

The recent construction of a new office building for Johnson Controls proves out of order doesn’t have to mean out of whack.

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Packers show must go on, even amid construction
Lambeau Field Stadium Improvement Projects (Phase II)

Every stage of Miron Construction Co. Inc.’s renovation of Lambeau Field was designed to work around the Green Bay Packers, even after the season ended.

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Good things to come from wait for Mayfair Collection apartments
The Mayfair Collection – Phase 1

When HSA Commercial Real Estate proposed a project for a city-owned site in Wauwatosa, the developer was faced with the difficult task of delivering desirable residential units in a struggling area.

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Boldt returns to roots for UW-Madison Memorial Union project
Memorial Union Reinvestment – West Wing Renovation

Renovating a 75-year-old building is tough, but when that building is an iconic part of the community, it’s even more challenging. That was the task Boldt Construction faced when it renovated the west wing of the Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

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Mitchell Park greenhouses combine style, technology
Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory Greenhouses

Tim Hansmann knew he was in for a challenge.

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Failed hotel project returns as tower for engineering school
MSOE Grohmann Tower

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s new Grohmann Tower is the speed with which it was finished. The entire project, from conception to completion, was brought to a close in just over ten months. The construction itself took a mere 17 weeks.

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Contractor’s gamble on Northwestern demolition pays off
Northwestern Mutual Demolition

When neighboring buildings and nearby traffic prevented Veit & Co. Inc. from imploding Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.’s East Building in downtown Milwaukee, a routine demolition job turned into a deconstruction.

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Project acts like a beacon for revitalized neighborhood
Pabst Professional Center

The Rinka Chung Architecture Inc. team had to strike a balance between respect for history and eagerness to build the Pabst Professional Center, downtown Milwaukee’s first office development in more than a decade.

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Crews heed ‘do not disturb’ sign at Pfister Hotel
The Pfister Hotel Tower Rooms Renovation

During a recent renovation of downtown Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel, Tri-North Builders officials found themselves having to oversee heavy demolition that was taking place both above and below guests who expected to enjoy everything the luxury hotel has to offer without disturbance.

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Potawatomi project a winning bet
Potawatomi Hotel & Casino

Rising above the western Milwaukee skyline, the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s new 19-story hotel is meant to get your attention.

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Promega da Vinci project lives up to its prestigious name
The Promega da Vinci Building

Expectations are high for a building that bears the same name as a well-known scientist and artist. The Promega da Vinci Building, Promega Corp.’s newest addition to its Fitchburg campus, lives up to its prestigious name.

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Sage on Jackson building takes the LEED
Sage on Jackson

Tight site conditions forced Bredin Building Systems to experiment when constructing Sage on Jackson, the first LEED Platinum-certified residential project undertaken in Wisconsin.

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Sauk Prairie Hospital a moving experience
Sauk Prairie Hospital

After nearly a dozen additions, Sauk Prairie Hospital needed a new facility.

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School of Freshwater Sciences benefits from new materials, planning
School of Freshwater Sciences

Coordination was essential to the successful renovation and expansion of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.

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Schreiber project puts company on the map
Schreiber Foods Home Office and Global Technology Center

Putting a global dairy-company headquarters in the footprint of an old shopping mall isn’t exactly a traditional building model.

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Ellis Stone uses ingenuity to bring SentryWorld vision to life
SentryWorld Renovation

When SentryWorld in Stevens Point closed its golf course in 2013 for a major overhaul, it also shuttered the building housing its pro shop, restaurant and meeting facilities so it too could get a makeover.

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Project transforms UW-Madison frat house
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity House

Modern fraternities often stand on the shoulders of their founders. But a three-story addition to a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house in Madison had to break from that tradition: as the work took place, the underlying structure could not be used for bearing.

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Silverbrook project gets straight A’s
Silverbrook Intermediate School

Planning made for perfection at Silverbrook Intermediate School.

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Planning key to science building’s success
St. Norbert College Gehl-Mulva Science Center/Medical College of WI (Phase I)

Open communication helped transform St. Norbert College’s Gehl-Mulva Science Center from an aging science building to a world-class research and learning facility.

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General contractors come together for successful library project
The Standard at East Library

The Standard at East Library was a project within a project.

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STH 100 project turns potential zoo into walk in the park
STH 100 (Mayfair Road) IH 94 to Watertown Plank Road

It was the construction of a key arterial roadway that helped divert traffic so the massive Zoo Interchange project could get up and running.

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Breaking new ground on a stormwater project
Stormwater Treatment Facilities for University of Wisconsin – Madison

The naturalized retention ponds dotting the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus prove that stormwater management doesn’t have to be the equivalent of a big box store.

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Sun Prairie hockey rinks are power play for the community
Sun Prairie Ice Arena

Sun Prairie scored two, professional-quality ice rinks in part because of a power play by hockey moms and dads.

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Innovative approach keeps reconstruction in fast lane
USH 41/29 System Interchange

Poor soil conditions threatened to extend a four-year interchange reconstruction into a six-year project. U.S. 41 and Highway 29 cross in Green Bay, but the interchange was too small for its projected traffic and resulted in high-speed freeway traffic merging with slower traffic on the state highway.

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New UW-Madison nursing school is just what the doctor ordered
UW-Madison Signe Skott Cooper Hall

For decades, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Nursing has lacked an independent identity on campus.
Now, a new building is ensuring the school is making a name for itself.

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Waterfront work transforms neighborhood
The Waterfront

Work on the Waterfront Student Living Project went beyond the mere construction of a new apartment building to encompass the revitalization of an entire neighborhood.

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