Construction Begins on History Colorado Center/Work Under Way on Historic Windsor Town Hall

HPC Breaks Ground on History Colorado Center

Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co. broke ground on the new History Colorado Center, located at 12th Avenue between Broadway and Lincoln in Denver, on Aug. 19. The new center, scheduled for completion sometime in late 2011, will replace the current Colorado History Museum at 1300 Broadway.

The new 200,000-sq-ft History Colorado Center will house a new museum and its education/public programs, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the State Historical Fund, The Stephen H. Hart Research Library, and other Colorado Historical Society functions. (Rendering courtesy of Tryba Architects)

The Colorado Historical Society and the state Judicial Department occupy two separate buildings on the same city block. In 2005, in light of research from the Urban Land Institute, which concluded that new buildings were necessary and that the Judicial Department building should occupy the entire block, the Colorado Historical Society agreed to find a new site.

Instead of two separate projects, the state approached the projects as one—an approach that saved more than $200 million from the legislatively authorized debt service limitations and will create over 3,200 direct and indirect jobs during the next four years.

Denver’s Tryba Architects is the architect-of-record. TrammellCrow Co. is the project manager.

Work Progressing on Historic Windsor Town Hall

McCauley Constructors Inc., headquartered in Windsor, is well under way with work on the $3.1-million restoration and renovation of the 1910 Historic Windsor Town Hall.

Formerly known to many as Park School or Park Building, the three-story, 30,000-sq-ft masonry and stone structure is being completely renovated, including adding an elevator and stair core on the south of the building.

HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems are also being completely renovated, and the 1962 Annex portion of the building is being removed. Grants for the project were received from the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office, including a SEP grant of $47,200 for energy efficiency, and a Dept. of Local Affairs Energy & Mineral Impact Grant Program Funds grant of $887,402 for construction.

Of the $3.1-million construction contract, $1.1 million of the work is being performed by local Windsor-based businesses, $1 million has gone to businesses in the surrounding communities of Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley, and the remaining $900,000 is going toward materials and work available locally.

FCI Constructors Awarded LCCC Dining Hall Addition, Renovation

FCI Constructors’ Longmont office was selected as the construction manager-at-risk for the addition and renovation of the dining hall on the Laramie County Community College Campus in Cheyenne.

The project will renovate the 21,562-sq-ft kitchen and create a new addition for the dining hall and entrance. Also included is $1 million in dormitory repairs. The $5-million project is slated to begin this month, with completion in August 2010.

The architect is Denver’s klipp.

JE Dunn Begins Mitchell Hall Project at the U.S. Air Force Academy

JE Dunn Construction has begun work on the Mitchell Hall renovation at the U.S. Air Force Academy. JE Dunn is serving as a general contractor for the construction manager, Weston Solutions, to complete the 25,000-sq-ft, three-story renovation.

The project is the third phase of six to modernize the main cafeteria and kitchen building while keeping fully operational a facility that serves upwards of 4,500 people three times daily.

JE Dunn is also currently working with Weston Solutions on the Vandenberg Hall renovation, encompassing 112,700 sq ft in one of the two main campus dormitories. The current Vandenberg Hall project is the second of eight phases and includes renovating 224 cadet rooms and five squadron assembly rooms.

American Woodmen’s Life Building Receives Landmark Designation

The American Woodmen’s Life Building, completed in 1950 at 2100 Downing St. in Denver, recently became one of the youngest buildings in Denver to be acknowledged with a Landmark Designation from the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission.

The American Woodmen’s Life Building boasts mid-20th Century styles and has been a neighborhood landmark since it was built in 1950. (Photo by LaCasse Photography)

Designed by Denver architect Gordon White, the American Woodmen’s Life Building originally served as the Supreme Camp of the American Woodmen, a Colorado domiciled fraternal benefits “society” that sold insurance to African-Americans until its closure in 1993. The building, recently renovated by Humphries Poli Architects, now houses the firm’s new offices and studio.

Since its design and construction, the American Woodmen’s Life Building has maintained its presence as a neighborhood landmark that connects the Victorian era homes of the San Rafael District just to the west with the area’s new construction since the building was completed, according to HPA principal Dennis Humphries.

Taylor Kohrs Building Boulder’s New Colorado Athletic Club

Denver’s Taylor Kohrs has begun construction on the new Boulder location for Colorado Athletic Club at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall.

Scheduled for completion in December, the 40,000-sq-ft athletic club will be a renovation of ground floor space in an existing office building. Upon completion, the club will include an indoor lap pool, saunas, steam rooms, a pilates studio, a yoga studio, weight room, massage therapy rooms, a café, changing rooms and a childcare center.

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