by Design

It's hard to grow a congregation with a church that offers only limited worship space and seating. That's the problem facing St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Minocqua, and the church's leaders are doing everything they can to find a solution. They've started a fund-raising effort to generate the money needed to expand their facility, and they've signed on with Groth Design Group Inc., Cedarburg, to draw up renovation and expansion plans. Those plans call for 3,000 square feet of renovation and remodeling that will create new classrooms, convert the existing worship space into a new parish hall, create a new kitchen and convert an existing house into a thrift shop to support the church. Groth's design also plans for 6,300 square feet of new construction, including a 200-seat worship space and offices. If all goes as planned, the estimated $1.4 million project should start in spring with completion scheduled for December 2005. Bid requests from invited general contractors should hit the streets in February or March.

On the Horizon

Branching out

Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., a consulting-engineering firm headquartered in Minneapolis, recently opened an office on High Street in downtown New Richmond. SEH has eight other offices in Wisconsin.

Engineer Grumman-Butkus Associates, Wauwatosa, is moving forward with an estimated $2.1 million project to increase capacity of the chilled-water plant at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. … Architect Dorschner/Associates Inc., Madison, is working with the state on an estimated $2.4 million plan to renovate the first floor of the Hill Farms Building E in Madison to house the Wisconsin Technical College System Board. … Uihlein Wilson Architects Inc., Milwaukee, is developing plans for an estimated $15 million addition and renovation project to University School of Milwaukee. … Torke, Wirth, Pujara Ltd., Wauwatosa, and Congregation Shalom, Fox Point, are ironing out plans for an addition and alteration project to the congregation on Santa Monica Boulevard in Fox Point. … Engineer Toki & Associates Inc., Milwaukee, has a green light to proceed with plans for the estimated $3.6 million construction of Cottage 17 Advanced Food Production Facility at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Retirement Center in Union Grove. … Columbia Savings & Loan Association, Milwaukee, has earned approval for the estimated $1.7 million construction of a 10,000-square-foot bank on Fond du Lac Avenue in Milwaukee. … Alterra Coffee Roasters Inc., Milwaukee, plans to buy a vacant building on Humboldt Avenue in Milwaukee and renovate it into the company's new headquarters and roasting facilities for $2 million to $3 million. … Barrientos Design & Consulting LLC, Milwaukee, is working with the city of Waukesha on an estimated $1.9 million plan to develop Hoover Park on a capped landfill on the city's south side. … Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc., Milwaukee, is guiding an estimated $5 million addition project at the Mukwonago Public Library through the approval process. … The city of Pewaukee has reached agreement with Waukesha County Technical College for the city to build a $5 million to $6 million fire station on college-owned land and lease the second floor to the college for training.

“I’m providing somebody a solution and saving them time.”

Eric Fowler

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Fowler turns GIS into a career

About seven years ago, Eric Fowler's three-year-old son asked him what he does at work.

"I told him, 'Dad makes maps so he can make money,'" said Fowler, the GIS project manager for R.A. Smith & Associates Inc. in Brookfield. "Although I haven't actually made maps for about four or five years."

The explanation Fowler gave to his son hits about as close as possible to a clear definition of Fowler's job. The problem, however, is that it isn't exactly accurate.

It's relatively easy to describe the medium in which Fowler earns his living. He works with geographic information systems, which are computer-based mapping programs supported with databases of information that can be as narrow or broad as the client's needs dictate.

It gets more complicated trying to explain what, exactly, he does with GIS. To put it as simply as possible, Fowler doesn't create the GIS programs and applications.

He makes them better.

Fowler relies on examples to explain his job. When he was working for Johnson Controls Inc., he developed a GIS application that he called locate/allocate, which helped the company decide where to place its technicians for a nationwide client and determine, down to the second, how much time it would take them to get to their destinations.

To create the application, Fowler plotted the locations of all the clients' facilities and all the streets between the technicians and the facilities. He provided the exact travel time of every street segment, for every hour of the day, taking into account traffic levels, turn restrictions, timing of stop lights and accident frequencies by type.

Then he did the same thing for the technicians' trips home.

It wasn't always this complicated. Fowler, a native of Terre Haute, Ind., joined the Marines after he graduated from high school in 1984. As he neared the end of his four-year stint, he discovered urban planning during a job search and, shortly after, found himself attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working for a bachelor's degree in geography and a master's in urban planning.

He earned the bachelor's in 1991 and the master's in 1993, but he found GIS along the way.

"It looked like a tool for urban planning, like spreadsheets are a tool for accountants," he said.

GIS was more than he thought, and Fowler was hooked. He took every class he could, and, in 1993, became one of the first three people to earn GIS certification from UWM, where he has taught GIS courses since 1996.

In Memoriam

Scott G. Heilert, Waterford, died Sept. 9 when a vehicle rolled over him on a construction site in Pewaukee. Heilert, 36, had worked as an ironworker for Custom Structural Inc., Big Bend, for three years. … Clarence H. Schafrik, Taycheedah, died Aug. 28 of kidney failure. Schafrik, 84, worked as a journeyman carpenter/millwright through the Milwaukee and Southern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters. … Fred C. Zacher, Wisconsin Rapids, died Sept. 3 of undisclosed causes. Zacher, 94, was the owner and operator of Badger Trenching and Excavating, New Berlin, until his retirement in 1979. … Timothy J. Tremel, Brookfield, died Sept. 27 in a car accident in New Berlin. Tremel, 52, was the chief operating officer and shareholder in charge of the Accounting & Audit Division at Kolb+Co. SC, Milwaukee. He joined the firm in 1992 and helped build the firm's construction practice, which serves many of the largest commercial construction companies, home builders and subcontractors in southeast Wisconsin.

"I was very glad I took it because once I got into urban planning, I decided I didn't like it," he said. "I like to provide the tools for urban planners to do their job, but I didn't like putting so much work into something that might not happen. With this, I got immediate satisfaction."

He turned his GIS talent into an internship with Johnson Controls that evolved into a career lasting until 2001 when he made the move to R.A. Smith.

"The main thing that brought me here was at Johnson Controls, I had it going pretty efficiently, and if I wanted to move up, I had to get out of GIS," he said. "I thought there were still a lot of cool things I could do. Through a consulting firm, the world is wide open."

But the question raised by his three-year-old son remains as difficult as ever to answer.

"I'm providing somebody a solution and saving them time," he said. "Putting the pieces together and making it work."

- Chris Thompson

Best of the Web

Project Rebirth uses time-lapse photography to monitor the rebuilding of Ground Zero in New York City. Every five minutes, six cameras (including one used by Cecil B. Demille to shoot "The Ten Commandments") capture a frame of film. When the project is completed, all of the footage will be compiled into a 20-minute film. The Project Rebirth Web site at www.projectrebirth.org includes a preview of that film.

— Rick Benedict

Your Honor

Planning and Design Institute Inc., Milwaukee, and Riverbend Development LLC, Milwaukee, won the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association's Best in Urban Design Award for their collaboration on the River Shores condominium community in West Bend. The association also honored the city of Wisconsin Dells and Vierbicher Associates Inc., Reedsburg, with the Small Jurisdiction Plan Implementation Award for their work on the city's unified theme, comprehensive plan, streetscaping improvements and Riverwalk. … The American Road & Transportation Builders Association recognized Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., Plain, for excellence in environmental protection and mitigation for the com-pany's work on the Wisconsin River Bridge Replacement/U.S. Highway 12 project in Sauk City. … The Energy Center of Wisconsin, Madison, was a winner of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance's 2004 Inspiring Energy Efficiency Impact Award for the center's work with five other sponsors on the Compressed Air Challenge, which provides resources for the industry and encourages changes to improve the efficiency and productivity of compressed-air systems. … Laura Daniels, a water-distribution manager for the Milwaukee Water Works, won the Leon A. Smith Award from the Wisconsin Water Association for her service to the association and her work on behalf of the drinking-water industry. … R.A. Smith & Associates Inc., Brookfield, was named by CE News magazine as one of the best civil-engineering firms to work for in the nation in 2004. R.A. Smith and its National Survey & Engineering division ranked 12th of the 50 companies selected and first among Wisconsin firms on the list. … Town & Country Electric, a division of Faith Technologies Inc., Appleton, won a Preferred Program Ally Award from Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, for the company's commitment to energy efficiency.

Giving Back

The Wisconsin Insulation Advancement Fund recently awarded academic scholarships to Adam Lautenbach, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student majoring in civil engineering; Nathaniel Lautenbach, a UWM student majoring in art and painting; Amy Theim, a UWM student majoring in education; Melisa Christensen, a University of Minnesota student majoring in art education; Ryan Bowe, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay student majoring in business and accounting; Cory Paulowske, an Edgewood College student majoring in criminal justice; Megan McLees, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student majoring in linguistics; and Ross Borchardt, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student majoring in mechanical engineering.

Dotted Line

KBK Services Inc., Ashland, won a $6.6 million contract to construct the Greater Bayfield Wastewater Treatment Plant and modify the existing plant into a pumping station. … T.V. John & Son Inc., Butler, landed a $1.3 million contract to work on the WisPark deep-well pump station and reservoir in Pewaukee. … The Boson Co. Inc., Marshfield, will construct improvements at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire after winning a $2.7 million contract for the work. … Voss Jorgensen Schueler Co. Inc., Waukesha, secured a $5.8 million contract for additions and renovation work at Congress School and Craig School in Milwaukee. … Miron Construction Co. Inc., Neenah, won a $2.7 million contract to construct the Cherry Street Parking Garage in Green Bay. Miron also won a $3.2 million contract for site work and building on the Shattuck Park and Towers Riverwalk project in Neenah. … Lunda Construction Co., Hilbert, will build the County Trunk Highway EA/Huron Road Bridge over Mahon Creek in Green Bay after winning a $1.3 million contract for the job. Lunda's Black River Falls office won a $1.8 million contract for lock and dam improvements in Dakota and Winona counties in Minnesota. J.F. Brennan Co. Inc., La Crosse, won a $1.8 million contract for similar lock and dam work in the same locations. … Maas Bros. Construction Inc., Watertown, won a $2.4 million contract to construct a new fire station for the city of Lake Mills. … Staff Electric Co. Inc., Butler, landed an $8.8 million contract to upgrade instrumentation and controls at the Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Milwaukee. … Hammersley Stone Co. Inc., Verona, will construct improvements to Cross Country Road and North Nine Mound Road in Verona after winning a $1.7 million contract for the work. … J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac, won a $3.6 million contract to construct conveyance pump station improvements for Milwaukee County. … KONE Inc., Brookfield, secured $1.9 million in contracts to renovate elevators in several buildings on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. … Faust Co. Inc., Milwaukee, will construct a well-treatment facility in Darien after winning a $1.8 million contract for the job. … James Cape & Sons Co., Racine, won a $2.7 million contract for combined-sewer relays and lining work for the city of Milwaukee. … Alliant Energy, Madison, landed a $2.1 million contract for the erection and assembly of the Cedarburg South Substation. … Advance Construction Inc., Green Bay, will construct the River Drive and Highway Y reconstruction in Johnson Creek after winning a $1.4 million contract for the job. … Reichl Construction Inc., Hales Corners, won a $3.9 million contract to renovate portions of the Veterans Administration Medical Center on National Avenue in Milwaukee for an acute-care patient ward and eye clinic.

Off the Clock

Boo!

The Tunnel of Terror construction team takes a break.

Photo by Chris Thompson

Fear is a great motivational tool.

Combine that with a strong sense of community involvement and a love of the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, and the zoo's annual Halloween Tunnel of Terror starts to make a lot of sense. And this year's event, like the 17 that came before it, never would have happened if not for the volunteers who brought the tunnel's materials to the zoo, built it, decorated it and staffed it with a horror hall of fame of ghouls, goblins, zombies and, this year, mutant animals for the Little Zoo of Horrors theme.

"We are lucky as a zoo and a community that we have so many people willing to invest in this event," said Mark Schemmel, executive director of the Henry Vilas Park Zoological Society. "I have a staff of basically three and a half people. Do you think we could ever get this done on our own? Not a prayer."

This year's event brought out 300 volunteers, 150 of whom represented the Madison Area Builders Association, which has more or less run the tunnel since its inception. Tiffany Thom, MABA's communications director, said it's a highlight for the association and its members.

"It's one of our favorite community service projects because it's a lot of fun," she said. "Our members love it. It's a good feeling giving money to the zoo."

The donated money runs in excess of $5,000, but Thom said the donated labor and materials from her members amount to $30,000 to $40,000. All of the help and resources translate to about $20,000 for the zoo every year, making the Tunnel of Terror one of the zoo's fund-raising showcases.

But for the volunteers, the work is just as satisfying as the end result of helping the zoo. Lis Wollner, who works at All About Cabinets in Waunakee, was a first-time volunteer this year constructing the 40-foot-by-60-foot tunnel on a warm afternoon in late September.

"It's just wonderful," she said. "It's nice to get out and help the community and make something the kids can enjoy."

But maybe the real root of the volunteers' involvement is the simple pleasure of striking terror into a little child's heart.

"As twisted as it may sound, the best part is when the little kids come screaming out the door at the end," Thom said. "It's going to be spooky."

- Chris Thompson

Rendering courtesy of Redmond Commercial Development Corp.

Hot Spot

The Redmond Company, Waukesha, is looking to start construction in spring on a 15,700-square-foot multitenant retail building in Saukville. The project, which will have tenant openings for fall 2005, represents just a portion of a larger development on a 13-acre site on Highway 33 and Northwoods Road. The development also includes a Walgreens, a Pick'n Save, a Kentucky Fried Chicken/Long John Silver's that's under construction and a proposed bank. Redmond's development arm, Redmond Commercial Development Corp., owns the property with the Ansay family.