$62M Project Begins On Interstate 290

A $62.3 million project to improve a 4-mile section of Interstate 290/Illinois 53 in the northwest suburbs has begun.

The project will reconstruct the heavily traveled expressway from Thorndale Avenue to Higgins Road (Illinois 72) in Schaumburg, Elk Grove and Itasca.

Phase I of the project, the rebuilding of the northbound lanes, will begin with crews setting up traffic control measures. All northbound traffic will be moved onto the southbound side of the expressway. Three lanes of traffic will be maintained in each direction.

Also, the Higgins Road entrance ramp to northbound I-290/Illinois 53 will be closed until November. Motorists will be directed to use the Woodfield Road entrance ramp located farther north on the same Frontage Road as the detour.

Chicago-based Walsh Construction is the contractor.

CTA Issues Bonds To Finance Blue Line

The Chicago Transit Authority announced the successful sale of bonds that will help the agency fund the continuing renovation of the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line.

The CTA sold $207.2 million in Capital Grant Revenue Bonds, it said.

Due to strong investor demand in the bond market on the day of pricing, the CTA was able to pay low interest rates, ranging from 1.27 percent to 2.24 percent - near historical low interest rates - for bonds maturing from 2005 to 2008.

The CTA's Capital Grant Receipts Revenue Bonds received an A3 bond rating from Moody's Investors Service and an A-rating from Standard & Poor's which are the highest ratings for this class of debt issuance.

Wacker Viaduct Wins CECI Award

Team members on the Wacker Drive Viaduct Reconstruction project in Chicago have won the Eminent Conceptor Award from the Consulting Engineers Council of Illinois.

They include Chicago-based firms Teng & Associates, McDonough Associates Inc., Alfred Benesch, Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers and TY Lin International and Long Beach, Calif.-based Earth Tech Inc.

The Eminent Conceptor Award is CECI's highest honor. It recognizes an engineering achievement that demonstrates a high degree of merit and ingenuity, contributes to the advancement of the private practice of engineering and enhances the economic and social welfare of the public.

Centrum Wins River North Award

Chicago's River North Association has named Centrum Properties Inc. 2003 Business of the Year.

The honor recognizes the Chicago-based developer's transformation of the Montgomery Ward & Co.'s former campus into the city's fastest-growing new community, Kingsbury Park.

"Centrum Properties achieved economic success while reviving an architecturally significant property and creating a vibrant new community out of a vacant industrial site," said Howard Conant, president of the River North Association.

In related news, Centrum's 600 W. Chicago Ave. project was named Redevelopment of the Year in the annual Greater Chicago Food Depository Commercial Real Estate competition.

The award recognizes the project's development team for returning the former Montgomery Ward Catalog House to a commercially viable property. The project was profiled on page 25 of Midwest Construction's February issue.

Governor Announces Construction Grants

Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced the release of 11 state grants to fund construction projects throughout the state.

The governor had frozen the projects when he took office so that a thorough review could be made of the appropriateness of each initiative and the feasibility of canceling some of the initiatives. In the case of these grants, it was determined that the state had either previously awarded contracts or already expended funds.

A special review panel is in the process of judging hundreds of other proposals by members of the Illinois General Assembly on the basis of permanent job creation, public health and safety and educational enhancements.

The projects that were approved include:

• $1 million project for capital improvements to Springdale Cemetery in Peoria. Improvements include repairs to roads, sewers and structures at the cemetery.
  
• $1.25 million expansion of the Cancer Biology Program and Laboratory Animal Care Facility at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The grant will be used to support planning and remodeling costs and laboratory equipment.
  
• $2 million project to construct the Lewis and Clark Memorial Tower.
  
• $5.5 million project for the Springfield Center for the Arts to purchase and renovate an 80,000-sq.-ft. former Masonic Lodge.
  
• $5 million project for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The project aims to construct a new enclosure for U-505 German U-Boat captured by the U.S. Navy during World War II.
  
• $1.7 million, in three grants, to the village of Essex for construction of a sanitary sewer collection system and treatment plant, and the construction of a water main distribution system and public water supply.

York High's Phase II Completed Early

For the second time, Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co. has completed a phase of its $90 million rebuilding of Elmhurst's York Community High School early.

McHugh officially turned over Phase II to Elmhurst Community Unit District 205 on Feb. 17, while the original schedule called for completion in late August 2003.

McHugh finished the first phase, a 295,000-sq.-ft. academic wing, three months early in May 2002.

Phase II comprises the York's middle section, including cafeteria, student commons and resource center with library, media center and broadcast studios.

As construction manager, Chicago-based McHugh is overseeing the reconstruction of York in a multiphase project to replace and update the school's aging facilities. McHugh is building new portions of the school and tearing down old sections with school in session for 2,400 students.
When complete, the only sections of the original school remaining will be the original 1920s-era "tower" building and auditorium, a gymnasium and the natatorium.

Southern Wine's Shell Completed

A 427,000-sq.-ft. distribution facility for Southern Wine & Spirits in southwest suburban Bolingbrook was recently completed.

Southern Wine & Spirits is a distributor of wine and liquor.

Kajima Construction Services Inc. completed the project.