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Introduction
Forty-five projects throughout the Midwest are being honored
for excellence in construction and design. They cover traditional
fields, like transportation, health care and higher education,
and the less-celebrated areas of interior design/fitout and
environmental construction.
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Since Midwest Construction introduced its construction competition
in 1998, the event has steadily generated interest.
With 101 entries, the Best of 2004 award event had the most
significant participation in the competition's seven-year
history. Previously, the biggest participation was in 2002,
when 59 entries were received.
It was not easy to pick the winners because of their quality.
Entries came from a broad mix of entities: public and private
owners, general contractors, architects, specialty contractors
and developers. Projects from all three states in the magazine's
coverage area - Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin - were submitted
and ranged from complex performing arts spaces to small environmental
projects.
A jury of 10 distinguished construction professionals was
selected to judge the submissions, and they included the following:
William Browne Jr., president/principal
of Ratio Architects Inc. in Indianapolis
Nicholas Cannelis, project manager of Turner Construction
Co. in Chicago
Faz Ehsan, vice president of the Thornton-Tomasetti
Engineers Division
of the Thornton-Tomasetti Group in Chicago
Warren Hill, president of Hill Mechanical Group in
Chicago
Robert Holliday, director of facility services of the
University of Chicago
Karen Johnson, president of Roughneck Concrete Drilling
& Sawing Co.
in Morton Grove
Mark Luetkehans, vice president of Ragnar Benson Inc.
in Park Ridge
Aleisha Palaniuk, associate project manager of Opus
North Corp. in Milwaukee
George Ryan, project implementation engineer with the
Illinois Department
of Transportation in Peoria
Marshall Suloway, consultant
with Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers Inc.
in Chicago
Prior to judging, the jurors received the written descriptions
that arrived at
Midwest Construction's office by Sept. 3. On Sept. 22, jury
members donated eight hours of their time by coming to the
magazine's office in the
Prudential Building in Chicago to discuss each project with
their fellows. They also looked over late submissions.
Jury members read the project descriptions and viewed photographs
taken during the entry's various stages. In weighing a project's
merit, consideration was given to the challenges faced and
the teamwork displayed in completing the job.
Once each juror had the opportunity to review submissions,
discuss them with his or her fellows and view project images,
the floor was opened for award nominations. If a juror was
affiliated with a project, he or she abstained from voting.
A project won if a majority of jurors found it worthy of
distinction.
With these points in mind, the jury selected 45 projects
in 19 categories. They comprised commercial, cultural, environmental,
health care, higher education/research, industrial, institutional,
interior design/fitout, K-12 education, library, religious,
renovation/rehabilitation, residential/housing, retail,
site/landscaping, small projects, sports and entertainment
and transportation.
In some categories, project-of-the-year awards and awards
of merit were given. In others, only an award of merit was
granted.
Brief descriptions of each winning entry are on the following
pages. The winners will be honored at an awards luncheon
on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown,
540 N. Michigan Ave.
Proceeds from the awards event will benefit a philanthropy
to be announced at the luncheon.
See
All The Winners >>
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