By design

Rendering courtesy of Dimension IV

St. John the Baptist Church in Green Bay wants to create a better sense of community for its rapidly growing congregation. To accomplish that goal, the church is working with Dimension IV, Green Bay, and The Selmer Co., Green Bay. The architectural firm and construction manager have teamed up on a two-phase project at the church. The first phase will increase seating at the church from 350 to 1,250 through a 25,000-square-foot, single-story addition of worship and gathering space. The second phase is a 7,200-square-foot project that will create a commons area and connect the church to its grade school. The estimated $6 million project should start in spring 2006 and reach completion by the Feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24, 2007. Bids for the job should hit the streets by early 2006.

Your honor

In memoriam McConnell Donald F. Tomasini, Colgate, died Oct. 17 after a long battle with lung cancer. Tomasini, 75, was the CEO of Sussex-based D.F. Tomasini Contractors, a company he founded in 1975. He also was one of the 10 founding members of the Wisconsin Underground Contractors Association. ... Patricia M. McConnell, Milwaukee, died Oct. 22 after a long battle with cancer. McConnell, 39, worked at Ticor Title Insurance Co., Milwaukee, as national commercial account manager since 2003. She also was a charter member of the Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women. ... Tom G. Bolan, Pewaukee, died Oct. 24 after a construction accident. Bolan, 53, was a member of Steamfitters Local 601 in Milwaukee and had worked at Faust Co. Inc., Milwaukee, for more than 25 years.

The Bentley Company, Milwaukee, recently announced that the recipients of its 2005 Vision Award are Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services, Midwest Airlines, St. Mary Faith Community, Ten Chimneys Foundation, The Johnson Foundation and Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC. The firms and groups won the award because they share The Bentley Company’s mission of providing the highest level of professional service in an atmosphere of mutual support, trust and teamwork while adhering to a strong code of ethics. ... Keller Inc., a planning, architectural and building firm with offices in the Fox Cities, Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau, won the National Gold Level STEP Safety Performance Recognition from the Associated Builders and Contractors for the company’s achievement and ongoing effort in developing a quality safety program. ... J.F. Ahern Co., a full-service mechanical and fire protection contractor headquartered in Fond du Lac, won the Wisconsin Recognition Award for Success Through Generations from Deloitte, a global accounting and professional services firm. Ahern won the award because it’s a family owned company with multigenerational involvement in key leadership positions. ... Ruekert/Mielke, a civil engineering firm in Pewaukee, won the Waukesha County Business of the Year Award from Thomas R. Hefty, Waukesha County’s former interim county executive, for the company’s work helping the county grow and its involvement in charity and volunteer activities. ... Several Wisconsin companies were honored for leading the way in designing and building energy-efficient, sustainable buildings at Focus on Energy’s Wisconsin Sustainability & Energy Efficiency Leadership Awards luncheon. The winners of the Awards of Excellence were the Zimmerman Design Group, Milwaukee, for its work on the Johnson Controls Brengel Technology Center in Milwaukee, and HGA, Milwaukee, for its work on the Karen Peck Katz Conservation Education Center in Milwaukee. Winners of the Merit Award were Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Inc., Milwaukee, for its work on the Alterra at the Lake in Milwaukee, and IBC Engineering Services Inc., Waukesha, for its work on the Starbuck Middle School in Racine and its work on the Washington Park Library in Milwaukee. The Special Citation Award went to T. Wall Properties, Madison, for its work on the City Center West in Madison; the Zimmerman Design Group for its work on the General Mitchell International Airport Intermodal Transit Center in Milwaukee; and The Sigma Group for its work on its Milwaukee headquarters. ... Michael F. Mamayek, executive vice president of Illingworth Corp. in Milwaukee, won the SMACNA Contractor of the Year Award from the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association for his commitment to and involvement in SMACNA and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ... The Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate Women recently announced the winners of its Real Estate Development Showcase Awards. The Real Estate Development Showcase Award went to the Overture Center for the Arts Phase 1 in Madison for job creation, economic development, increased property values, creative use or reuse of space and overcoming obstacles. The Janesville Performing Arts Center won the Heart of the Community Award for demonstrating the success of a collaborative effort among private, nonprofit and public entities. The Royal Credit Union Corporate Headquarters & Phoenix Park in Eau Claire won the Phoenix Award because it “rose from the ashes.” Summit Place in West Allis won the Leading Edge Award as a pioneering development that pushed the envelope resulting in sustained community impact. Holy Redeemer Academy in Milwaukee won the Spirit Award as a development that breathed life, heritage and culture into an underutilized area. The Stoughton Downtown Façade Improvements won the Grass Roots Award as a development that built community support and focused on the revitalization of a neighborhood.

Peer Review

Family business

Buschick follows his father’s footsteps

Eric Buschick

Eric Buschick’s future was always right in front of him.

He greeted it every morning. He saw it at the dinner table. It was with him on family trips. In fact, Buschick saw his future every time he saw his father.

Buschick’s father started in the elevator industry in 1962 with the help of his uncle, who was a regional field manager. He worked in the field for 12 years before becoming a superintendent and then regional field manager for the Midwest with Schindler Elevator Corp. He also served as the elevator inspector in Mundelein, Ill., where Buschick grew up.

“Once a year, he’d take all day Saturday for inspections,” Buschick said. “I’d go with him. I’d be on top of the elevator, and it was cool. It upset my brother because he never got to go. I was older. I ranked.”

Showing his son the elevator industry was one thing, but allowing Buschick to turn his back on other opportunities for a career with elevators was another.

“He was pushing me in a different direction,” Buschick said. “That’s why I went to college.”

Buschick enrolled at St. Joseph’s College in Indiana on a football scholarship in 1981. He made it through his junior year studying business management and finance, but when he saw a chance in the elevator industry, he took it.

“My dad was not happy,” he said. “I had 33 credits to finish. It’s hard to get in this business, and there’s an opening about once a year for a day. I got it in July 1984.

“It’s a union. They have people on the bench. To get in, the bench has to be cleared. From the time I got in, it was four or five years before they let people in again.”

Buschick, 42, started out as a helper for Westinghouse Elevator Corp. through Chicago Local 2 of the International Union of Elevator Constructors. That meant he did what he was told, whether it was working in the construction end of the elevator industry or getting coffee for everyone on the job site.

Wrapped up The Leon H. Sullivan Town Homes are ready to welcome their first residents. The Jansen Group Inc., Milwaukee, capped off its completion of the 12, 2,400-square-foot, duplex-style town homes at North Second and North Third streets in Milwaukee with an opening celebration hosted by the Inner City Redevelopment Corp. on Oct. 24. Each 1,200-square-foot unit has three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a full basement and a detached two-car garage. Each unit also comes with central air, a refrigerator, a stove and a security system. Two of the 12 units are also handicap accessible.

But he learned the trade, attended classes and, after four years, took and passed the journeyman test to become an elevator mechanic.

“When I became a journeyman, I had a helper, and I told him what to do,” Buschick said. “At that point, depending on what type of person you are, you like giving orders rather than taking them. You have to remember the more you teach, the better your job is.”

Schindler bought out Westinghouse in 1989, but Buschick stayed with the company through the changes, continuing his elevator work on high rises in Chicago until 1995. That’s when he moved out of the field and into an office, taking a job as a superintendent.

He kept that job as the boss of the company’s construction mod for downtown Chicago until 2003, when he made the switch to Schindler’s Menomonee Falls office and took a job as service superintendent. Now, he controls elevator maintenance from Green Bay to the Illinois border and west to Green Lake.

“I had never seen the service side of the industry, and I wanted to be more well-rounded,” he said.

As Buschick climbs his career ladder, his father, now retired, still keeps tabs on the industry through Buschick and his brother, Scott, who is an escalator mechanic and foreman in Chicago.

“I think deep down, he tried to push me in a different direction, but he’s happy we got in,” Buschick said.
And even though he left 33 credits on the table at St. Joseph’s, Buschick said he’s never regretted his decision to enter the family trade.

“It’s a sense of fulfilling exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “When I got in this business, I knew I wanted to be a boss. It’s something I enjoy coming to work and doing.”

— Chris Thompson

On the horizon

Best of the web The Web site for New York-based Messana O’Rorke Architects at www.messanaororke.com is simply amazing. The photos of various projects drive this site, with very minimal use of text and extremely intuitive navigation. The ease of use and beautiful imagery are perfect matches for an architect’s site.

Plunkett Raysich Architects, Milwaukee, is working with the city of West Bend on plans to construct a nature center at Lac Lawrann Conservancy. … The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is aiming for a 2008 construction start for an estimated $6 million widening project of Greenfield Avenue in Waukesha. … Waste Management of Wisconsin, Bristol, is planning a $30 million to $35 million landfill expansion at its Pleasant Run Landfill in Paris. … Developer Mandel Group Inc., Milwaukee, is proposing construction of a new shopping center on South Lake Drive and East Howard Avenue in St. Francis. … The city of Milwaukee is working on the development of a 37-acre, technology-oriented business park on the Veterans Administration grounds on South 50th Street and National Avenue. … Batlar Enterprises, Sun Prairie, is planning the construction of a 22,000-square-foot, meat-packing plant in Waterloo. … The Bradley School of Technology and Trade Commission is working with the city of Milwaukee on plans to demolish the old Boys Tech High School and reuse the area for athletic fields and green space. … AG Architecture, Milwaukee, is working with Lutheran Homes & Services Inc. in Arlington Heights, Ill., and Greystone Communities Inc. to lead the design efforts for a $28 million senior-living community in North Tampa, Fla. AG also was commissioned for a $37 million project in Lemont, Ill., by Greystone Communities and the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago Service Corp. to reposition an existing campus and design a new senior-living community. … Graef Anhalt Schloemer & Associates, Milwaukee, signed on to conduct a tall buildings life-safety pilot study for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. … Mead & Hunt Inc., Madison, is working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison on an estimated $2.50 million fire-alarm replacement project for multiple campus buildings. … The Whitefish Bay School District is trying to raise $1.70 million to replace the stadium at Whitefish Bay High School. … The University of Wisconsin System is working through preliminary plans for the estimated $26.50 million west campus utility improvement project in Madison. … Developer J.B.J. Construction, Germantown, is planning a luxury condominium project in Brookfield. … Tandem Realty Corp., Chicago, and Brewery Works Inc., Milwaukee, have earned general approval for an estimated $38 million condominium project on North Commerce Street in Milwaukee. … SDS Architects Inc., Eau Claire, has signed on to provide architectural and engineering services for a plumbing-system replacement at Cartwright Center and Whitney Center on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. … Lang Associates Inc., Green Bay, is working with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections on plans to upgrade the control center at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.

Dotted Line

Jos. Schmitt & Sons Construction Co. Inc., Sheboygan, won a $3.75 million contract to construct a new City Hall, police station and fire station on Fourth Street in Sturgeon Bay. … Burkhart Construction Corp., Butler, landed a $1.54 million contract to renovate the Farmers Market in West Allis. … Westphal & Co. Inc., Madison, won a $1.21 million contract for oil-switch and tap-box replacements at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. … Arteaga Construction Inc., Milwaukee, will renovate multiple administration supply facilities at Fort McCoy after winning a $1.31 million contract for the job. … J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac, secured a $1.66 million contract for a UV disinfection project in Glendale. … McCabe Construction Inc., Eau Claire, won a $1.93 million contract for road construction work on Wilberg Boulevard and Washington Street in St. Croix Falls. … MSI General Corp., Oconomowoc, was selected by Roadrunner Dawes Freight Systems Inc. to design, engineer and construct a 13,000-square-foot remodeling of the company's Cudahy facility. MSI also was selected by Designs in Marble to design, engineer and build a 10,233-square-foot facility for the company in Ixonia. MSI also was selected by the First Congregational United Church of Christ for the design and construction of an addition to the front of the Oconomowoc church, by Wipperfurth's Piggly Wiggly to design and build a 9,900-square-foot addition to the Waunakee grocery store and by Quick Pick to demolish a convenience store in Hales Corners and build a new 2,915-square-foot facility with attached tenant space. … Jossart Bros. Construction, De Pere, won a $1.32 million contract to improve a lift station and utilities at the Fox Ridge Business Park in Fond du Lac. … Bukacek Construction Inc., Racine, will expand and renovate the Racine County Ridgewood Care Center in Racine after winning a $1.45 million contract for the job. Bukacek also was selected to build 36,000-square-foot manufacturing and 4,000-square-foot office additions for Monarch Plastics Inc. in Kenosha, a 1,500-square-foot restaurant for Jimmy John's in Oak Creek and a 4,550-square-foot office expansion for Putzmeister America in Sturtevant. …

Hot spot The wait is over for Delafield Venture. The joint venture between Siepmann Realty Corp., Pewaukee, and Bielinski Homes, Pewaukee, is moving forward with Broken Hill, a Pewaukee subdivision with 122, half-acre, single-family lots and 148 acres of open space. The two companies bought the 237-acre lot nine years ago but had to wait for sanitary sewer services to extend to the area. Now, Delafield Venture is ready to break ground in spring on the subdivision's infrastructure and amenities. The joint venture, which plans to have building permits for houses in late fall 2006, will sell the lots to end users or builders for home construction. Bids for infrastructure and grading work should hit the streets in early 2006.

Bane-Nelson Inc., Kenosha, landed a $1.87 million contract to construct the second phase of a Lake Michigan pathway in Racine. … Ptaschinski Construction Inc., Beaver Dam, took home a $2.20 million contract for the reconstruction of Hemlock Road in Beaver Dam. … Hoffman Construction Co., Black River Falls, won a $13.88 million contract for the Pelzer Street reconstruction in Winona, Minn. … James Thieding Construction Inc., Loganville, will construct street, sewer, water-main and retention-pond projects in Madison after winning a $2.43 million contract for the work. … Mann Bros. Inc., Elkhorn, landed a $2.07 million contract for the Sherman Road sanitary-sewer and water-main project in Jackson. Mann also won a $1.33 million contract for utility work in Fontana. … TCI Architects/Engineers/Contractors, La Crosse, will cross the state line into Minneapolis after winning a $4.39 million design/build contract for the renovation and expansion of a physical fitness center at the St. Paul International Airport. … Vonasek & Schieffer Inc., Rice Lake, secured a $4.60 million contract for additions and alterations at Meggers Hall and Ritzinger Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Barron County campus in Rice Lake. … C.D. Smith Construction Co., Fond du Lac, will construct modifications to the water-pollution-control plant in Fond du Lac after winning a $56.69 million contract for the work. … McGann Construction Inc., Madison, won a $3.20 million contract to expand the Sun Prairie Health Care Center in Sun Prairie. … Pember Companies Inc., Menomonie, landed a $1.35 million contract for utility and street improvements in Woodbury, Minn. … A.W. Oakes & Son Inc., Racine, secured a $1.44 million contract for a transmission-main project in Racine. … Advance Construction Inc., Green Bay, took home a $1.33 mil-lion contract for utility and gravel-base construction in West Bend. … Pieper Power, Milwaukee, will replace variable- frequency drives at the Jones Island and South Shore wastewater-treatment plants in Milwaukee and Oak Creek after winning a $2.34 million contract for the work. … Lunda Construction Co., Waukesha, won a $1.31 million contract to construct the Rivershores Drive bridge in West Bend. … Total Comfort of Wisconsin Inc., Pewaukee, will upgrade the dust-control system and replace the silo-discharge valve at the Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Milwaukee after winning a $1.45 million contract for the job. … The Selmer Co. Inc., Green Bay, landed a $2.32 million contract to remodel the Hamilton Community House in Two Rivers. … D.L. Gasser Construction, Baraboo, won a $5.15 million contract for road and utility improvements in Adams.

Off the Clock

Rubber hits the road

Wood takes a victory lap at Blackhawk Farms. Photos courtesy of Pete Wood

Pete Wood might be addicted to racing cars.

It’s either that or the transportation engineer for Strand Associates Inc., Madison, is really committed to his job.

“It’s just extra research I’m doing on my own time on skid resistance on pavement,” he said. “It gives me a good reason to leave early on Friday afternoons.”

If it’s research he’s doing, Wood has accumulated enough experience to fill a book on skid resistance. He could also add a chapter on the likelihood of a crash if a driver’s steering wheel comes off in his hand while traveling about 140 mph on a racetrack.

“Your thought is, ‘Oh, shucks,’” he said. “It usually doesn’t take long to hit something if you’re not steering.

“I’ve had three or four crashes that were memorable. But I’ve shed more blood working on the car than driving it.”

Wood has had ample opportunity to crash considering that he started racing in the 1970s when he was just out of college. He started out drag racing in his Chevy Nova, which also served as his regular car.

Pete Wood (left) takes a break after a race at Blackhawk Farms near Beloit early in his racing career. Photos courtesy of Pete Wood

“My friends were mixed up in the same thing,” he said. “It’s something you can get into without any commitment. You take a street car, put a number on the window and away you go.”

Drag racing evolved into Formula Ford racing in 1983, when Wood took a class at the Skip Barber Racing School near Sheboygan.

“You would get in one of those things, and you knew you were in a race car,” he said. “They do a rental race program, and I did that for a few years.”

In 1989, Wood bought a Formula Ford and started racing 10 to 12 times a year. Since then, he’s won three class championships, which is an accumulation of points over the course of a season.

This year, he took second, but he finished on a high, taking the checkered flag at Blackhawk Farms racetrack near Beloit on Oct. 16. He walked away with a nice trophy, but for Wood, it’s more about the fun than the prize.

“I’ve won a little money — not enough to offset the cost of what you’re doing,” he said. “Once in a while, you get a contingency prize — a bottle of brake fluid or a quart of oil.”

— Chris Thompson