By design

Affinity Health System is ready to kick off construction of its new pediatric care facility in Neenah. With Flad and Associates, Madison, on board as the architect, and Hoffman LLC, Greenville, signed on as construction manager, the new facility will represent the third in a series of Affinity clinics designed to create recognition for the company in its coverage area. The $3.2 million, 12,000-square-foot, single-story project will create space for six pediatric physicians and one OB-GYN as well as digital radiology and lab services. The LEED-certified facility also will incorporate sustainable features such as showers for employees who walk or bike to work, building materials that take into account life-cycle costing and infrastructure designed to minimize consumption of utilities. The project was scheduled to start by Jan. 1 and reach completion in July.

Your honor

JJR LLC, a landscape architecture, planning, urban design, civil engineering and environmental science firm with an office in Madison, won Merit Awards from the Michigan American Society of Landscape Architects for the firm’s work on the Oden State Fish Hatcheries & Watershed Walk with the Michigan State University Museum and the Craig Mawr Cottage on the east bluff of Mackinac Island. ... Construction Management Solutions Inc., a construction management and accounting firm with an office in Cottage Grove, won the 2005 Top Producer Award from Quest Solutions Inc., a Florida-based provider of automated takeoff and estimating systems to the construction industry. CMS won the award after earning the highest percentage of referral leads for Quest. ... Kimberly A. Hurtado, managing shareholder of Hurtado SC Counselors at Law in Wauwatosa, was awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American College of Construction Lawyers for her contributions to the practice of construction law. ... The Metropolitan Builders Association recently gave Partners in Excellence Awards to the Fall Remodelors Tour remodelors that used the most MBA members in their tour projects. Wallner Builders, Butler, won the First Place Award, and BDC Building Design & Construction Inc., Milwaukee, won the Second Place Award. The MBA also recently presented its Builder and Associate of the Year awards. Kevin Dittmar of Dittmar Realty Corp., Menomonee Falls, won the Builder of the Year Award for his commitment to the building industry. Christine Howard-Turowski of Priority Mortgage Corp., Brookfield, won the Associate of the Year Award for her involvement in the MBA and her dedication to others. Joe Wendelberger of J. Anthony Homes, Pewaukee, won the Associate’s Choice Award for his commitment to working with the MBA’s associate membership. ... Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah, recently won six 2005 BUILD Wisconsin Awards from the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin. In the General Contractor-New Construction category, Miron won for its work on the University of Wisconsin-Madison Crew House and the Northcentral Technical College Health Sciences Center in Wausau. In the General Contractor-Renovation category, Miron won for its work on the Sacred Heart Hospital addition and remodel in Eau Claire. In the Municipal Utility/Underground Construction category, Miron won for its work on the Watertown Wastewater Treatment Plant and the lower Fox River remediation project in Menasha. The AGC of Wisconsin also honored Greg Kippenhan, Miron’s chairman, with the 2005 Wisconsin Horizon Award. Vogel Bros. Building Co., Madison, won a 2005 BUILD Wisconsin Award for Excellence in Partnering for the company’s success orchestrating a model partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the entire project team on the construction of a new elementary school in Deerfield. ... Ayres Associates Inc., Eau Claire, won the 2005 Roadway Work Zone Safety Awareness Award from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association for the firm’s multifaceted approach to maximizing safety and minimizing congestion during reconstruction of the westbound Interstate 94 bridge over the St. Croix River in Hudson. ... Irgens Development Partners LLC, Milwaukee, won the NAIOP Wisconsin Chapter Development of the Year Award from the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties for the firm’s work on GE Healthcare Technology’s Research Park in the Milwaukee County Research Park. ... Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP, Milwaukee, won two design awards from the Association of Licensed Architects. PRA won a Gold Award for its work on the St. Bruno Catholic Church and School project in Dousman and a Merit Award for its work on the Waters at Park Place project in Milwaukee. ... Darnell Cole, president of Milwaukee Area Technical College, won the Building Milwaukee Award from the Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for his industry support and community leadership. ... The Sierra Club named the Milwaukee Housing Authority’s Highland Gardens and Highland Homes one of America’s best new development projects. ... MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, recently presented its 2005 Design Excellence Awards to several MSI employees. David Kaul won the First Place Honor Award for Design for his work on the Glendale Market and Pick ‘n Save. Steve Rowley won a Merit Award for Design for his work on Fox River Church in Pewaukee. Ditas Andomenas won a Merit Award for Structural Engineering for his work on Newport West in Lake Geneva. Ryan Thomas won a Merit Award for Redesign for his work on Outpost Natural Foods in Bay View, and he won an Honorable Mention for the interior build-out of the new Dr. Stoeckl Dental Offices at Oconomowoc Lakes Plaza.

Peer Review

By the book

Greenwood makes safety his career

The regulations can get pretty technical.

There’s a portion of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rules manual that states:

“For wood railings: Wood components shall be minimum 1500 lb-ft/in(2) fiber (stress grade) construction grade lumber; the posts shall be at least 2-inch by 4-inch (5 cm x 10 cm) lumber spaced not more than 8 feet (2.4 m) apart on centers; the top rail shall be at least 2-inch by 4-inch (5 cm x 10 cm) lumber, the intermediate rail shall be at least 1-inch by 6-inch (2.5 cm x 15 cm) lumber. All lumber dimensions are nominal sizes as provided by the American

Softwood Lumber Standards, dated January 1970.”

Officially, that’s paragraph B1 of Section 1926.501 in Subpart M of the 1-inch-thick 29CFR book of regulations.

There’s at least a solid chance that Chad Greenwood could recite that paragraph verbatim.

“I remember being amazed by other compliance officers by what they could quote,” said Greenwood, a safety and health compliance officer with OSHA’s Madison office. “You can baffle them with your alleged expertise.”

There’s also a level of real expertise that comes with spending nine years in the field for OSHA. Green-wood said there’s no way to memorize all the potential OSHA regulations at play on a construction site, but he’s spent his career researching, studying and applying that knowledge to the work-site inspections that make up a major portion of his job.

“There is a lot to it,” he said. “There are the basic rules that aren’t too hard to learn, but you’re always learning more.”

Greenwood, 31, is not fulfilling a lifelong calling to work for OSHA. He didn’t spend his early years pretending to be an OSHA officer in his backyard while growing up in Reedsburg.

He came upon his job the way many people select their careers — by trial and error. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1992 with plans to pursue a degree in management and computer systems.

But at the same time, he knew he enjoyed working in the field doing hands-on labor. As soon as he turned 18, he worked summers as a laborer for Reedsburg-based general contractor Friede & Associates, where his father is a general superintendent.

“During my sophomore year, I changed to occupational safety,” he said. “I didn’t like being in the computer lab.”

He followed that course through 1997, when he graduated with a degree in occupational safety and health. Along the way, his father indirectly led him to OSHA.

“My dad belonged to the Four City Safety Council, and I went to a meeting that OSHA was at,” Green-wood said. “After the meeting, I talked to them, and the area director at the time told me to write a letter for an internship.”

He finished his internship shortly before his graduation in 1997, and when a position opened up in the Madison OSHA office a few months later, everything fell into place.

“It just interested me,” he said. “At the time, I wasn’t even positive. But they had an opening here, and I was fortunate enough to get it.”

Greenwood was 22 when he took the job as a compliance officer, which required him to visit construction sites, walk the area, hold opening and closing conferences and, if necessary, research and mail citations.

“There were times when I got the impression people were looking at me wondering, ‘Who’s this kid?’” he said. “It used to be that I was always afraid of how the employer or employees would react. But over time, I learned that most people are nice. There’s nothing to be nervous about.

“You have to apply a reasoned approach and treat everybody the same.”

— Chris Thompson

On the Horizon

HNTB Corp., Milwaukee, is in the planning stages with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the Highway 12 bypass project in Fort Atkinson. ... Developer Gorman & Co., Madison, and Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc., Milwaukee, are working through the approval process for an estimated $18.6 million commercial development with condos and apartments on State and Main streets in Racine. ... Holy Cathedral Church of God in Christ, Milwaukee, is targeting a 2007 construction for a new church campus on West Florist Avenue and North 73rd Street in Milwaukee. ... Strand Associates Inc., Madison, is preparing final designs for an estimated $2.3 million expansion and renovation of the Waupaca Police Station. ... Blue Design Group LLC, Hortonville, is designing a new fire station and remodeling of the Kronenwetter Municipal Center. ... The Washington County Agricultural & Industrial Society started raising funds for the estimated $2.5 million construction of an indoor arena at the County Fair Park in Polk. ... William Wenzler & Associates Architects Inc., Milwaukee, signed on to provide consultant services on the estimated $4.50 million renovation of Chadbourne Residence Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. ... MSA Professional Services, Madison, is working with Burnett County on an improvement plan for the Burnett County Airport in Siren. MSA’s Beaver Dam office signed on to work with the village of Hustisford on the development of Neider Park. ... The Modjeska Youth Theatre Co., Milwaukee, is planning an estimated $2.9 million renovation of the Modjeska Theatre on Mitchell Street in Milwaukee. ... Uihlein Wilson Architects Inc., Milwaukee, is designing an estimated $3.8 million addition for the Hoard Historical Museum in Fort Atkinson. ... Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Wauwatosa, intends to build a 5,800-square-foot, spine-care clinic in Oconomowoc. ... Renaissant Development Group LLC, Oak Brook, Ill., is working through the approval process for the estimated $105 million Park Lafayette, a condominium development on North Prospect Avenue in Milwaukee. ... Engineer JJR LLC, Madison, will help Concordia University on an estimated $8 million stabilization of lake bluffs at the university’s Mequon campus. ... M&M Real Estate LLC, Waukesha, is proposing construction of a hotel and conference center on American Eagle Drive in Slinger. ... Ayres Associates, Waukesha, will provide architectural and engineering services for an estimated $2.41 million campground project at Harrington Beach State Park in Ozaukee County. ... Menard Inc., Eau Claire, is planning construction of a new corporate headquarters for the company’s Midwest Manufacturing Division in Eau Claire. ... Mead & Hunt Inc., Green Bay, will consult on an improvement project at the Tomahawk Regional Airport in Tomahawk. ... Direct Development, Green Bay, and The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc., Cedarburg, are eyeing a spring start for a redevelopment project in downtown Grafton.

Dotted line

F.C. Raemisch & Son Inc., Waunakee, landed a $2.96 million contract to construct utilities and roads in Waunakee. ... Oscar J. Boldt Construction Co., Appleton, will expand and alter Fire Station No. 1 in Appleton after winning a $1.32 million contract for the job. ... Terra Engineering & Construction Corp., Madison, won a $2.14 million contract to construct the 25th Street lift station and bioretention facility in Milwaukee. ... Dorner Inc., Luxemburg, secured a $2.06 million contract for sewer and water-main construction in Appleton. ... CH2M Hill, Milwaukee, will design an interceptor sewer for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District after winning a $1.26 million contract for the work. ... Magill Construction Co. Inc., Elkhorn, won contracts to build a new transfer station for a parking lot in the Southport Plaza in Kenosha, finish the interior for Managed Packaging Systems in Hartland and build new facilities for Burlington United Methodist Church and Faith Baptist Church in Oak Creek. ... A-1 Excavating Inc., Bloomer, secured a $1.21 million contract to extend utilities on Pleasant Drive in Plover. ... Wanasek Corp., Burlington, landed a $4.33 million contract to upgrade a lift station and construct a force main in Elkhorn. ... C.W. Purpero Inc., Milwaukee, won a $3.04 million contract for the Underwood Creek flood-storage facilities project in Elm Grove. ... Riley Construction Co. Inc., Kenosha, will construct a well facility in Bristol after winning a $1.61 million contract for the job. ... Altmann Construction Co. Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, took home a $1.18 million contract to construct a maintenance facility for the Vilas County Highway Department in Arbor Vitae. ... American Sewer Services Inc., Hartford, won a $1.61 million contract for a water-main relay project in Wauwatosa. ... C.D. Smith Construction Co., Fond du Lac, will modify a wastewater-treatment facility in Omro after winning a $3.04 million contract for the job. ... MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was selected by La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries of Milwaukee to design and build a 24,150-square-foot showroom and storage area in Brookfield.

Wrapped up

Bukacek Construction Inc.'s relationship with Educators Credit Union is alive and well. With the Sept. 1 completion of the credit union's Sturtevant branch on Highway 20, the Racine general contractor tallied 14 offices and branches it has built for Educators since the two first started working together in 1973. The 48,000-square-foot structure, designed by Stelling and Associates Architects Ltd. of Burlington, features a solid brick exterior and an interior with cherry wainscoting coupled with cedar and polished tile. The branch includes a vaulted ceiling and a new showroom for automobile sales. The new facility also features 10 drive-up tellers and eight inside teller stations.

Giving back

The Mechanical Contractors Association of Northwest Wisconsin Inc. in Appleton recently awarded Adrianne C. Woolford a $1,000 scholarship. Woolford will graduate from Platteville High School in June.

Milestones

Irgens Development Partners LLC, Wauwatosa, recently earned approval as an Accredited Management Organization. The AMO certification is given to real-estate management firms that meet the Institute of Real Estate Management’s criteria for professional education, ethics, business stability and financial standards.

On the move

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers on Dec. 12 moved its headquarters from 111 E. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1000, in Milwaukee to 6737 W. Washington St., Suite 2400, in Milwaukee. The association’s phone number remains 414-272-0943.

Best of the Web

The Marquette Interchange Web site at www.mchange.org does a great job of making sense of the massive reconstruction project in downtown Milwaukee. The site includes maps, photo galleries, video interviews with key players and more. Of particular interest is an interactive map that shows traffic conditions, ramp and lane closures and other information to make using the interchange during the project less troublesome.

Hot spot

Neumann Developments Inc., Waukesha, is keeping it green with plans for Forest Ridge, a new subdivision north of the Interstate 94 interchange on Highway 89 in Lake Mills. When complete, the 228-acre property will boast 112 acres of green space and three miles of walking trails. It’ll also feature 192 single-family lots as well as space for multifamily and commercial developments. Neumann picked the property for its prime location, and the developer’s plans for the subdivision dovetailed with Lake Mill’s expectations for the site. The project should get rolling in 2006 and, depending on sales, will reach full build out in three to seven years. General contractor bids for the job should hit the streets in January.

This bowl takes first place and draws a $1,350 bid at the Nov. 18 Feed Your Soul event. Jesse Meyer of Flux Design Ltd. designed the bowl.

Off the clock

Picking up the tab

A dollar goes a long way at the Second Harvest of Wisconsin.

For every dollar donated, the hunger-relief organization can buy six meals. So, when the second annual Feed Your Soul event, hosted by Flux Design Ltd. in Milwaukee, raised $19,000 for Second Harvest on Nov. 18, it wasn’t just a token gesture.

It was a donation of 114,000 meals.

“It started out as a food drive and ended up as something bigger and better than we could have ever imagined,” said Gina Styer, Second Harvest’s communications manager. “We are thrilled. We could not have asked for anything better.”

About 500 people roam the offices of Flux Design Ltd. in Milwaukee as they place their bids in the Feed Your Soul silent auction.

The event drew about 500 people from Milwaukee’s architecture and design community for a silent auction of 50 uniquely designed wooden bowls and 20 pieces of two-dimensional art. Fifty people designed the bowls following a theme of what hunger means to them.

A bowl designed by Jesse Meyer, a designer and co-owner of Flux, drew the top bid of $1,350 and took first place in the bowl judging conducted by an art professor from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.

Jackie Ford, the co-chairwoman of the event, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers and an interior designer at Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. in Milwaukee, designed “A Bowl Full of Cherries,” which drew a $125 bid. She said that no matter how people designed their bowls, the end result was worth the effort.

“Besides the fact that I’m a member of the ASID, I wanted to do something positive for the community,” she said. “We raised $7,000 more than last year, so it was definitely a huge success. We’ll continue trying to outdo ourselves.”

Feed Your Soul committee members (from left) Kelly Brainerd of HGA, Steve Sorrentino of Flux Design Ltd., Jackie Ford of Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. and Amy Meyer of Van Bergen and Associates take a break from the festivities on Nov. 18.

And Flux will continue to offer its offices for the event, said Steve Sorrentino, a project manager at Flux. Flux and Milwaukee firm Big MPG Design/Marketing joined the local chapters of ASID, the American Institute of Architects, the International Interior Design Association and the Construction Specifications Institute in hosting this year’s Feed Your Soul.

“Honestly, it’s such a wonderful, mutually beneficial event,” Sorrentino said.

“It’s an opportunity to raise money and an opportunity for us to get to know people in the architecture and design fields.

“It’s a good time for a good cause.”

— Chris Thompson

A burning question …

With Violet Razo, a civil engineer with Ruekert/Mielke, Waukesha

What is on your iPod?

“Music. I have a 20 gigabyte iPod, so it only holds music and not movies. I got it about a year ago, and I haven’t really used it much. I mainly got it for school, for walking to class, in between classes and for working out. I haven’t used it since I started work here. Mainly, it has Spanish music, but iTunes doesn’t have a wide variety of Spanish music. I have Shakira, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, Jaguares and Café Tacuba.”