"Since the May 24, 2004, groundbreaking, we have demolished existing buildings that were on-site, put in the underground, built the foundations, and have erected a third of the steel," says Gary Schalmo, vice president for The Clark Construction Group Inc., Chicago — which is serving as managing partner for McCormick West Constructors, LLC (Mc4West).
Mc4West is a consortium of 10 highly experienced and diversified companies who are tackling the project for the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (MPEA). MPEA owns and manages McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
In addition to The Clark Construction Group, which is handling general contracting and construction management roles on the project, the Mc4West design-build team includes Hunt Construction Group Inc., Indianapolis and Chicago (construction services and program management); A. Epstein & Sons International Inc., Chicago (architectural and engineering); Mesirow Stein Development Services Inc., Chicago (program management); Mota Construction Co., Chicago (general contracting and construction management); II in One Contractors Inc., Chicago (general contracting and construction management); Globetrotters Engineering Corp., Chicago (architecture and engineering); McKissack & McKissack Midwest, Chicago (program and construction management); Cotter Consulting Inc., Chicago (program management); and Pentad Inc., Chicago (affirmative action program management).
Eight of the 10 firms previously worked together on the successful McCormick Place South Building, which opened in 1996 ahead of schedule and under budget. The South Building achievements included the creation of a model for design-build projects that is emulated across the country, and an aggressive affirmative action program benchmark, upon which all subsequent MPEA projects are based. The $675-million South Building, which added 840,000 square feet of space, is the only design-build project ever to win the coveted AIA Achievement Award.
The McCormick Place West Expansion Project will add a fourth building to the huge McCormick Place complex, which boasts the largest amount of exhibition space of any venue in the United States. The construction includes 470,000 square feet of exhibition space and 250,000 square feet of meeting space (over 60 meeting rooms). The new five-story building and its central concourse put meeting rooms, the exhibit hall, business services, and common areas in close proximity.
Key features include a 100,000-square-foot ballroom (which will be the largest and most flexible in the nation), a rooftop garden with covered terrace, a centralized transportation center, and dedicated roadways for freight delivery. "We are building a bridge (on the south side of the site) to link truck operations between the South and West buildings," Schalmo says.
Under Construction
Construction is scheduled for substantial completion in fall 2007, with occupancy in 2008. Upon completion, the West Building will add to Chicago's worldwide stature as having the most complete, versatile and flexible convention, tradeshow, exhibition, and meeting venture. Currently the McCormick Place campus includes three buildings with exhibit space — Lakeside Center, the North Building and the South Building. The campus also includes the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotel and conference center.
The West Building, bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Indiana Avenue and Stevenson Expressway, brings the complex's total exhibit space to 2.2 million square feet and will increase meeting room space to 600,000 square feet. By increasing its exhibit space, the West Building will provide McCormick Place the flexibility to accommodate multiple large-scale events back to back — or even at the same time that similar events are under way in its North Building, South Building or Lakeside Center. Meanwhile, with a ratio of meeting space to exhibition space that will rank among the best in the industry, the West Building is also designed to meet the growing trend toward meetings of all types, including innovative medical conferences and educational meetings.
During the first 1-1/2 years of the McCormick Place West project, the emphasis was on the design phase. Now, as the Mc4West team enters its third year on the project, the emphasis has shifted from design to build. Currently, approximately 300 workers are on-site, "and we will probably peak out at just over 1,000 about a year from now," Schalmo says. "There are 40 prime subcontractors here, and another 20 are coming."
Crews are working regular 40-hour weeks, with the exception of the steel erection operation that is under way six days a week. Prospect Steel Co., Little Rock, Ark., is the chief structural steel fabricator and Danny's Construction Co. Inc.'s Chicago regional office in Gary, Ind., is handling erection. Schalmo anticipates that all the steel will be in place by the end of the year.
The West Building will feature an exterior "that has a little bit of everything — precast concrete, brick, metal panels, and curtain wall," Schalmo points out. "The exterior will blend in with the existing facilities. And the brick facing Indiana Avenue will adhere to the neighborhood."
According to Schalmo, the new building will feature a unique storm water tunnel that will funnel water from the roof of the building directly to Lake Michigan. "Most of the buildings that have been built recently in Chicago have a retention basis or an area for storm water that can be released slowly into the sewer system, and that's a feature we were originally going to have on this building, too," he says. "However, early on there was a change in direction and we added the storm water tunnel. The tunnel is something that the city is excited about and it will have lasting benefits — it means that less storm water will have to be treated, and there will be lasting operational savings."
The project is equipment intensive, with numerous pieces of aerial equipment being used throughout the large site. In fact, approximately 20 JLG boom lifts are being utilized for steel erection and other operations.
Gary Schalmo, a 26-year construction veteran, says the design-build process on the project has gone well. "The process is really good, and I think everybody is happy with it," he says. "We meet weekly with the owner to make sure that the design is proceeding the way it should to meet the budget and also meet their requirements of the programs."
Approximately 80 people, representing every segment — architectural, engineering and contracting — of the Mc4West operation are housed in one building. "So communication among everyone is really seamless," Schalmo says. "This project is a huge commitment, but we have a very strong staff that makes it manageable."
In addition to Schalmo, other key Mc4West project officials include Katie Twomey, vice president; Joe Salerno, general superintendent; and San Simonides, senior superintendent.
Meeting The Challenges
The McCormick West Expansion Project "is going very well," Schalmo says. He notes that the Mc4West team has met several challenges head on, and he anticipates no major hurdles in completing the project as scheduled. It is on time and on budget, which pleases the owner, the MPEA.
"It has been a very challenging project," Schalmo says. "Some utilities relocations were a challenge at the beginning of the project. We had to work around a SBC duct bank that was running through the middle of the site. In addition, there were some ComEd lines in the site and it wasn't 100-percent clear where they were situated. So it was a challenge taking care of those lines."
In conjunction with the McCormick West project, crews carefully dismantled and reconstructed the Platt Façade on the site of the Trigen-Peoples Energy Corp., on the corner of Cermak Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. This work took about a year to complete.
Another challenge was fitting the new L-shaped West building next to an existing parking garage. "We had to take down a couple of bays of the garage to make room for the grand concourse," Schalmo notes.
The ongoing steel crisis in the construction industry — with almost every type of steel doubling in price in 2004 — has had a major impact on the McCormick West project. "Contending with the steel issue has been our biggest challenge," Schalmo says. "Steel has gone up 30 percent since we were selected to do the project, so we had to break down the steel fabrication and erection into separate contracts. Normally the fabricator will sub out the erection and control that work. But here we have had to monitor the individual packages closer than we normally would at the GC level."
Education Initiative
Community outreach is vital in a public, high-profile project. From the beginning, team members made efforts to ensure that residents from the surrounding communities knew about the project and were included. Mc4West put a great deal of emphasis on community outreach in first six months of project — met with elected officials, community groups, trade organizations, educational institutions, and held a community forum.
On the job, Mc4West has a strong multi-faced affirmative action program in place. There are four levels at which Mc4West must achieve MBE/WBE participation goals — ownership, design, construction, and the overall project. "Overall on the job, we have a goal of 25-percent MBE and 5-percent WBE," says Schalmo, "and we will meet those numbers."
Mc4West added an innovative education component to its affirmative action program called the Education Initiative. This initiative is designed to assist both individuals and companies, those wishing to join the construction industry and those already in it, and includes professional training and mentoring programs, and partnership activities with educational institutions.
Education Initiative is a group of programs in the fields of architecture, engineering and construction. Developed in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Engineering, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the City Colleges of Chicago, the programs offer a wide range of learning opportunities to elementary, high school and college students living in the project area, as well as to minority- and women-owned firms working on the project. One of the Education Initiative programs is Build Chicago — a 12-week pre-apprenticeship training program. A joint creation of Mc4West and Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy-King College, the program offers GED and high school graduates opportunities to learn construction basics.
Schalmo, who served as a structural project manager for the McCormick Place South Expansion project, is impressed with the Education Initiative program. "We are really taking a lot more time with the Education Initiative this time around," he says. "We are doing some pre-apprentice training to help people get into the trades and educating sixth-graders and others about construction. We are trying to plant some seeds so that in five years from now those kids who won't get to go to college will pick an avenue that they can get excited about."
Major Attraction
McCormick Place attracts more than 3 million trade and public show visitors annually. The West Building expansion is expected to bring more than $80 million in new tax revenue and add $2.7 billion in economic activity, according to a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the MPEA.