By Design

The city of Milwaukee is looking for a low-income housing development to serve as infill at a site on Fond du Lac Avenue and Center Street. Design II Architects Ltd. has just what the city wants. The Fond du Lac architectural firm teamed up with project owner Commonwealth Development Co., Fond du Lac, and general contractor Northcentral Construction Inc., Fond du Lac, to create a plan for Fond du Lac Center Apartments, a three-story complex with 24, two-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors and parking and retail space on the first floor. The 45,696-square-foot project should kick off in midsummer, with completion scheduled for early 2007. Subcontractor bids for the project should hit the streets in late spring.

Your honor

Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., a multidisciplined, professional services firm with eight Wisconsin offices, won the 20-Year Legacy Award from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the company’s long-term commitment and efforts to meet disadvantaged- business-enterprise contracting goals for WisDOT projects. ... William J. Mielke, chief executive officer and president of Ruekert/Mielke, Waukesha, won the Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering for his accomplishments and contributions to the engineering profession. ... J.P. Cullen & Sons Inc., Janesville, won the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership/Big Step Employer Recognition Award for the company’s work-force development excellence in the Milwaukee area and its commitment to the Center of Excellence, which is a collaborative partnership between WRTP and Big Step. ... The American Concrete Pavement Association chose the reconstruction of East Washington Avenue-Segment 1 in Madison for an Excellence in Concrete Pavement Award in the Urban Arterials and Collectors category. Trierweiler Construction Co. Inc. of Marshfield, HNTB Corp. of Madison and Ayres Associates, Madison, worked on the project. The ACPA chose the reconstruction of Commercial Street in Neenah for an Excellence in Concrete Pavement Award in a Municipal Streets & Intersections Category. Ptaschinski Construction Co. of Beaver Dam, OMNNI Associates Inc. of Appleton and Gremmer & Associates Inc., Stevens Point, worked on the project.

Giving back

Kathryn Taege was selected for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning's Aldrian Guszkowski Scholar-ship. AG Architecture Inc., Wau-watosa, established the scholarship in 1998 to support architectural education in the area of senior living.

In memoriam

Scott Christie, Westby, died Nov. 10 after a construction accident during the reconstruction of North Port Washington Road in Fox Point. Christie, 36, worked as a pipe foreman for Hoffman Construction Co., Black River Falls, for 10 years.

Peer Review

A family affair

Voster keeps builders exchange close to home

Linda Voster bought the Fox Valley Builders Exchange on a land contract in March 1988.

It was her first crack at running a business, but she had enough experience to feel confident in the decision. She knew how to manage an office and had a system for running payroll. A few years earlier, she brought the first computers to the exchange, and she knew how to make them work for the business.

But there was one big problem.

“I knew nothing about construction,” she said. “I had to get over the hump of buying a business that provides a service to the construction industry without understanding the construction industry.”

Getting over that hump meant focusing on sharing information and realizing her role in the industry.

“I knew I could learn, and I knew what my place was,” Voster said. “I didn’t have to wear a hard hat. I had to get them the work.”

And it didn’t hurt that, seven months after she bought the exchange, the International Builders Exchange Executives (of which Voster will be president in 2007) called out of the blue to invite her to a regional meeting in Fargo, N.D.

“How they found me, I have no idea,” she said. “But I went, and it really lit a fire. I came back like a born-again Christian.”

With a better understanding of the world of builders exchanges, Voster set about pulling her new Appleton-based company out of a $3,000 hole from the previous year, building on a membership that was stalled at 89 and setting the stage for a career that has spanned 17 years so far.

It’s a career that Voster couldn’t have imagined while growing up in Syracuse, N.Y. And Wisconsin was a state where, according to her father, cows froze in their tracks and died.

It certainly wasn’t a place to call home until, while working in a Syracuse pharmacy, the 21-year-old Voster met who she called the man of her dreams, and he happened to be from Appleton.

“In September 1968, I got in my red Rambler and drove out here,” she said. “We were married in 1969 in Wisconsin.”

Voster and her husband, David, ran the Cavern Coffee House in Appleton until 1970, when her husband took a job as a police officer and Voster became pregnant.

She focused on raising her first and second child over the next three years before taking a short-lived job at the Outagamie County Hospital. She didn’t stay long because she was working in the kitchen with stainless steel, which has nickel in it, and Voster discovered she is allergic to nickel.

So she went back home and started doing payroll and related computer work for different companies. Mark Ebben hired her to do just that kind of work for Bend Industries in Appleton, and it was Ebben who would one day offer Voster the builders exchange.

He and his brother Don joined an attorney from Menasha in 1981 to form the Appleton Builders Exchange. The goal was to compete with the Fox Valley Builders Exchange, but after about three years, the two companies merged.

Three years after that, Voster took a part-time job with the exchange, and Ebben offered to sell the business to her.

“It took three months for me to decide I wanted to purchase it and three months to negotiate a price,” she said.

And, 17 years later, she’s in the same spot but with considerably more knowledge of the industry.

“I am a loyal girl,” Voster said. “It’s the different people. You get to become a part of their lives. You have established and long-lasting friendships, and that’s what I like the best.”

And the fact that the exchange is so much a part of her life only improves the experience.

“There’s a great sense of satisfaction as something I can show my family, my grandchildren, that this is the family business,” she said.

- Chris Thompson

On the horizon

Mead & Hunt Inc., Madison, will provide consultant services for an improvement project at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. ... The village of Fox Point is in the planning stages for a new police station. ... Workshop Architects Inc., Milwaukee, earned state approval to proceed with the design of an addition and remodeling of the James R. Connor University Center in Whitewater. ... Architect Martenson & Eisele Inc., Menasha, is working with Fairhaven Retirement Community, Whitewater, on construction plans for Prairie Village, a senior-housing development in Whitewater. ... The University of Wisconsin System is moving forward with plans to construct an estimated $2 million potato storage research facility at the Hancock Agricultural Research Station in Hancock. ... SDS Architects Inc., Eau Claire, has state approval to proceed with an estimated $23.27 million addition and remodeling of the University Center in Stevens Point. ... The city of Kenosha is planning a $1.5 million expansion of its trolley system from HarborPark to Uptown. ... AG Architecture Inc., Wauwatosa, is leading the design efforts for a $38 million continuing-care retirement community for Greystone Communities and Wesley Retirement Services in West Des Moines, Iowa. ... The Cedarburg Landmark Preservation Society and The Kubala Washatko Architects Inc., Cedarburg, are planning a historic renovation of the Rivoli Theater in Cedarburg. ... Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP, Milwaukee, is moving forward with an estimated $3.57 million expansion of the Grafton Police Station. ... The Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 128th Air Refueling Wing is targeting a September construction start for an estimated $7 million expansion and improvement of a maintenance facility at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. ... HDR Architecture Inc., Milwaukee, is working with Covenant Healthcare System Inc., Glendale, on an estimated $80 million outpatient center in Franklin. ... The city of Appleton is in the planning stages for construction of a new police station on Walnut Street. ... Venture Architects, Milwaukee, is in the study phase for an estimated $11 million expansion and improvement of the Jefferson County Courthouse in Jefferson. ... The congregation of the Evangelical & Reformed United Church of Christ is considering rebuilding the church on Wisconsin Avenue in Waukesha after a fire destroyed the majority of the structure on Dec. 4. ... Herr Environmental Inc., Delafield, is developing a plan for 500 residences on a 300-acre parcel in Dousman. ... The village of Menomonee Falls is establishing a redevelopment plan for its East Main Street corridor from Pilgrim Road to Highway 41/45. ... Milwaukee Mile Marketing LLC, West Allis, and VJS Construction Services, Pewaukee, are working on an estimated $25 million development plan for the Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis.

Dotted Line

Hot spot Mills Development Corp., Kenosha, is building on a good idea. The developer found success with its Mill Creek residential development on the west side of Highway 83 in Salem. Now it's time to focus on the east side of the highway with The Meadows of Mill Creek, a 47-acre lot with 34 duplexes and 24 single-family homes targeting commuters between Milwaukee and Chicago. General contractor Construction Management Associates Inc., Kenosha, and site-work contractor DK Contractors Inc., Pleasant Prairie, started work on the development in November and are aiming for occupancy in some units by spring. CMA continues to look for qualified subcontractors for the project.

Stodola-Maas Construction Inc., Fond du Lac, won a $1.04 million contract to conduct the 2005 Americans with Disabilities Act assessment repair projects for Outagamie County. ... Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah, will upgrade a wastewater-treatment plant for the Heart of the Valley Metropolitan Sewerage District in Kaukauna after winning an $18.16 million contract for the job. ... Riley Construction Co. Inc., Kenosha, landed a $2.57 million contract for construction on the Newman Road water-booster station in Racine. ... MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was selected by Metro Holdings LLC, West Allis, to design and build a 17,000-square-foot medical office building on National Avenue in New Berlin. ... Don E. Parker Excavating Inc., Hortonville, won a $1.12 million contract for a water-main relay project in Menasha. ... Advance Construction Inc., Green Bay, secured a $1.38 million contract for the northwest interceptor sanitary-sewer and water-main extension in Menasha. ... Scherrer Construction Co., Burlington, will remodel portions of the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha’s Northview Hall after winning a $2.81 million contract for the job. ... Kenneth F. Sullivan Co., Madison, took home a $1.38 million structural and general contract for the construction of a new public library in Cross Plains. ... Frank Silha & Sons Excavating Inc., Janesville, won a $1.13 million contract for two phases of a landfill closure project in Janesville. ... James Peterson Sons Inc., Rhinelander, will construct wastewater systems in Reedsburg after winning a $2.04 million contract for the work. ... Simmons Building Products Inc., Wauwatosa, landed a $2.17 million contract to replace exterior windows on Chamberlin Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ... Maryville Construction Co. Inc., Hazel Green, won a $1.72 million contract to replace a dairy center at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. ... Bachmann Construction Co. Inc., Madison, secured a $1.18 million general contract for improvements to Lowell Hall at the University of Wiscon-sin Extension in Madison. ... Michels Pipe Services, Brownsville, won a $7.20 million contract for sewer rehabilitation work in Milwaukee. ... C.D. Smith Construction Co., Fond du Lac, will improve wastewater-treatment facilities in Cedar Grove after winning a $2.24 million contract for the work. ... McHugh Excavating & Plumbing Inc., Onalaska, landed a $1.18 million contract for utility work in Sparta. ... A.J. Heinen Inc., New Berlin, won a $1.75 million contract to replace the fire-alarm system at the Milwaukee GMF/VMF Postal Facility. ... PTS Contractors Inc., Green Bay, will extend sanitary sewers and water mains in Suamico after winning a $2.10 million contract for the work.

Milestones

George Egenhoefer, vice president of Menomonee Falls-based Thomas & Egenhoefer Inc., retired on Dec. 5 after 24 years with the general contractor and construction manager. Egenhoefer founded the company with Reggie Thomas, the firm’s president, in 1981. ... Millennium Architects & Designers Ltd., Green Bay, celebrated the completion of its 10th year in business in December. ... Donald Croysdale, owner and president of Milwaukee-based Croysdale & Company Inc., retired from his role as an association executive at the end of December. Croysdale started in the business in 1980, eventually assuming leadership roles with the Wisconsin Painting Contractors Association, American Subcontractors Association of Greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin Roofing Contractors Association and the Southeastern Wisconsin Drywall and Plastering Contractors Association. ... Prism Technical Management & Marketing Services LLC, Milwaukee, in December celebrated its 10th year in business. Prism began operations in December 1995 with a job on the turbine generator project at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

On the move

MasterGraphics Inc., a project-data management and distribution company serving the architectural and engineering industries, recently moved three of its five facilities. The company's corporate office in Madison will move from 810 W. Badger Road to 2979 Triverton Pike Drive in Madison. The company also moved its Minnesota and Chicago offices. MasterGraphics' phone number remains 800-873-7238.

Best of the Web

The Greening Gotham Web site at www.greeninggotham.org asks visitors to picture the gritty, urban landscape of the rooftops in New York City as lush green gardens and meadows. And the site provides a tool that lets users see what green New York roofs would look like. This Flash site explains the group’s mission and shows what it's doing to make that goal a reality. - Rick Benedict

Off the clock

Sweet deal

Don Gieck (right) and his son, Dan, introduce a 2-pound pack of bees into a new hive at Gieck's house. Photos courtesy of Don Gieck

Don Gieck doesn’t care much for the taste of honey.

He’ll eat a little here and there, but if it were left to him, the 3,000 pounds of honey that he harvests on average every year wouldn’t go far. Luckily, the carpenter with J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Madison, knows plenty of people willing to take the honey off his hands.

He sells jars at work, and there’s a tavern/sporting goods store near his home in the township of Honey Creek that distributes his honey.

“I eat very little of it,” he said. “My wife and son eat quite a bit, and my uncle eats it every day. I guess I’m more of a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy than bread and honey.”

But Gieck’s preferred diet didn’t have anything to do with his first purchase of a 3-pound pack of bees about 10 years ago. With a $35 investment, Gieck had between 9,000 and 10,000 bees delivered to his door.

“It sounds like a lot, but it’s really not many,” he said. “It’s a softball-size gob of bees, and it doesn’t take up much space.”

But the bees needed a home. So Gieck built the hive and hive bodies, which are the bottom two boxes on the bee hive. He also built the supers, which are boxes on top of the hive that hold the surplus honey that eventually gets harvested.

“I started with one hive, and the next year, I got another,” he said. “I’ve basically doubled it every year. Right now, I’m up to about 20 hives.”

Don Gieck's son, Dan, checks to see how much honey is in a frame. Photos courtesy of Don Gieck

His neighborhood of bees is a mix of those purchased and those captured. Last summer, at a Findorff project in Verona, a colony of about 30,000 swarming bees landed on a board in the middle of the construction site.

The project’s safety director told Gieck about the visitors, so when he got off work, he simply took a piece of cardboard and scooped the bees into a box. He returned the next day to pick up the stragglers, and the entire colony is now living with Gieck.

“So far, they’re doing great,” he said. “There were no bee stings. When you come across a swarm, they’re actually really calm.”

That’s not to say that Gieck hasn’t suffered his fair share of stings.

“I get stung about 30 to 40 times a year,” he said. “It actually doesn’t bother me anymore. It just itches a little bit, and that’s about it.”

But for Gieck, the stings are a small price to pay for a hobby that offers some extra benefits.

“It helps pay the property tax,” he said.

- Chris Thompson

A burning question with Tom Mortensen

What profession other than yours would you like to attempt and why?

"I always thought it would be great to be a humorist-type writer. I have way too much to say and not enough people to listen. My profession is very misunderstood in this state, so my book is really going to be a funny look at landscape architecture and at landscaping in general."