“This project represented a true collaborative effort, and the end result is an innovative campus, which incorporated cutting edge technology to emphasize the technical science and engineering curriculum offered by the school,” said Mark Radell, McCarthy’s project director.  “It is gratifying to be a part of a project that will foster an optimal learning environment for years to come.”

The School of Engineering and Sciences is one of the SCUSD’s small, innovative schools dedicated to providing choices for students and their parents. The school provides access to standards-based teaching and learning in a personalized project-based educational environment, with particular emphasis on the math, engineering and science subjects.

“We are extremely proud to be part of such a successful project,” said Duane Wray, executive director, capital projects of Regent Development.  “The quality of the school district-city partnership, coupled with an outstanding team comprised of Regent, McCarthy, WLC and various subcontractors, created a great synergy for making this an exceptional project.  Furthermore, by incorporating a number of sustainable elements, we were able to save the taxpayers and district money.”

Regent and McCarthy utilized a number of construction methods and products that resulted in cost efficiencies, less environmental impact and minimal disruption to the surrounding community.  For example, the School of Engineering and Sciences is among the first few schools in California to employ an innovative building technique using geopiers.  Approved for use by the California Division of Architecture, the process of installing geopiers includes digging 13-foot holes and packing them with recycled crushed concrete or local aggregate.  The geopiers anchor the foundation to the earth, as well as other conventional systems such as driven piles.  As a benefit to the community, geopiers are installed much more quickly than using traditional methods, minimizing the noise disruption. Additionally, geopiers are environmentally friendly and cost effective, saving taxpayer dollars.

The project team is also constructing the adjacent Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library, which is scheduled for completion in summer 2010. The library is the first built through a cooperative agreement between the city and school district. In addition, the project team is also constructing the campus’ athletic fields. Both the library and athletic fields will be open to the School of Engineering and Sciences students and area residents. The entire project is the product of a hybrid partnership between the city of Sacramento and the SCUSD.

About Regent Development
Regent provides first-class development services to public agencies including cities, counties, colleges, universities, K-12 school districts and state and joint-use agencies. It offers design/build/finance services to its public clients and was one of the first to employ the lease/leaseback delivery method in the state of California. The Regent team is comprised of experienced development professionals who have had leadership roles in federal, state and local governments and in private industry. To learn more, visit Regent online at www.regentdevelopment.com.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for resort and entertainment, education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Southwest Contractor

Entries were reviewed by an independent jury comprised of design and construction professionals in this year’s Nevada competition. After carefully scoring each project and engaging in intense discussion, the jury arrived at 19 winning projects in a variety of categories. McCarthy came away with two big awards in the Civil/Public Works and Engineering Design, and K-12 Education categories.

“The judges considered a variety of criteria for each project, from teamwork and safety to innovation and aesthetics,” says Scott Blair, senior editor of Southwest Contractor. “Several close contests were decided by which project provided the greatest social or economic benefit to the community.”

“What an incredible honor it is to receive not one, but two project awards,” said Randy Highland, president of McCarthy’s Nevada/Utah Division. “Collaboration and teamwork were the keys to success on both of these projects and the awards serve as further emphasis that when we focus on communication and collaboration our potential in this challenging market is unlimited.”

McCarran International Airport Terminal 3 Early Site Civil Package
Category: Civil/Public Works and Engineering Design

McCarran International Airport Terminal 3 Early Site Civil Package paves the way for the newest terminal at the nation’s sixth busiest airport. The project team displayed a great deal of teamwork and collaboration while working with the owner’s onsite construction manager and successfully met each construction milestones. In addition to delivering the project on time and under budget, McCarthy’s management, staff, and self-perform team logged approximately 190,000 man hours on the project with zero recordable incidents.

Veterans Tribute Career & Technical Academy
Category: K-12 Education

The Veterans Tribute Career & Technical Academy is a one-of-a-kind learning environment focusing on service career pathways. The high school features five different career and technical programs including: 911 dispatch training, law enforcement, crime scene analysis, EMT and computer forensics. As one of the first two schools to be completed using the construction manager at-risk delivery method, the 24-acre site includes a five building campus with separate buildings for the gymnasium, commons, administrative and resource facilities as well as sporting fields, courts and a public fitness trail throughout the campus.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has helped to define the Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Located at 2839 S. Burnham Ave., Valley High School was originally constructed in 1965 and is one of the oldest schools operating in the Clark County School District. The $20,175,000 contract calls for the remodel and upgrade of the mechanical, plumbing, electrical, structural, and architectural areas of the 44 year old school.

Valley High School will remain open to its 3,000 students throughout construction as McCarthy performs the modernization and upgrades to the school.  McCarthy will work closely with school administration to phase the work by splitting the school into sections and relocating students to portable classrooms only when necessary to complete work in each area.  Furthermore, to minimize disruption to the students during the school year, McCarthy will only stage construction to take place during off hours between 3pm – 6am, summer months, weekends and holidays.

“McCarthy has extensive experience working effectively in occupied facilities and we are carefully scheduling the work to minimize disruption for the faculty and students,” said Ray Sedey, McCarthy vice president of operations. “Of course, safety is of the utmost concern and we are putting plans in place to assure the work area is completely isolated from the building occupants.”

Designed by Professional Design Architects of Las Vegas, plans call for the removal and replacement of the ceiling and all existing mechanical, electrical, plumbing, upgrading of fire protection and life safety systems, installation of new air handlers, and upgrades to the existing central plant. McCarthy will self perform all concrete work, create ADA accessibility and install 580 tubular day lights to provide increased natural lighting in the classrooms.

About McCarthy
Recognized by the Nevada Contractors Association as the “Safest Contractor of the Year” in 2008, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has helped to define the Southern Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, March 9 for project consultants, subcontractors, McCarthy team members, and representatives of the Carlsbad Unified School District to commemorate the construction milestone

The overall scope of work for the modernization and reconstruction of Carlsbad High School includes construction of the new stadium as well as construction of eleven new permanent education structures. The project has been divided into multiple phases to allow the school to continue operating during the projected three-year-long construction period. Final completion is slated for fall 2011.

The present stadium phase, valued at $13.6 million, includes demolition of the existing stadium, installation of underground utility infrastructure, and construction of a new 3,900-seat athletic stadium with aluminum bleachers, a synthetic track and field area, and a 10,000-square-foot building housing locker rooms, restrooms and concessions. Completion of the new stadium is slated for spring of 2010.

A previous phase in June 2008 required McCarthy to set up temporary classroom facilities for students, along with the utilities to support these facilities.

McCarthy currently is working on preconstruction services for the new buildings construction phase, which encompasses one- and two-story education buildings comprising 99,000 square feet of classroom, performing arts, vocational education lab, and food service space. Completion of this phase is slated for fall 2011.

John A. Martin & Associates is the structural engineer; Leighton Engineering is the geotechnical engineer; Cornerstone Engineering, Inc., is the civil engineer; Johnson Consulting Engineers, Inc., is the electrical engineer; Donn C. Gilmore & Associates is the mechanical engineer; and Lightfoot Planning Group is serving as landscape architect. The Planning Center provided the Environmental Impact Report.  Gafcon is the program manager.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings;  office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The La Mirada High School expansion is one of three high school additions completed or underway as a part of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District (NLMUSD) Measure S School Facility Improvement Program. Construction for the new classroom building and modernization of the administration building was completed in June 2008. Students were welcomed into the new classrooms when school started in September 2008.

Funded through the district’s $165 million Measure S bond approved by voters in November 2002, construction of the $8.7 million expansion was phased over 23 months on the busy La Mirada High School Campus.

Designed by Dougherty + Dougherty Architects of Costa Mesa, the new two-level classroom building at La Mirada High School adds 23,880 square feet of space to the existing campus. Located along the south end of the high school, the new wood-framed building with a light and dark blue-gray plaster skin is the most visible structure when driving into the high school campus. The crescent-shaped building houses eighteen classrooms within four distinct structures that are all connected by open air breezeways. Three courtyard areas on the building’s north side feature landscaping and planter seating where students can relax and gather between classes. 

In support of the new district-wide science program, the new building houses six new science classroom containing peninsula-like lab stations to accommodate students in their experiments, learning and research. The ADA compliant labs feature built-in casework, fume hoods, Epoxy-resin chemical resistant countertops, sinks, gas, power and high speed data connections. A separate science project preparation area for teachers and assistants was built between the classrooms, and energy efficient direct/indirect lighting is incorporated throughout the new building.

The project also included a 1,316-square-foot modernization of the school’s administration building. Construction entailed converting an existing, open atrium in the center of the building into new office space.

 Prior to starting the high school expansion, renovations of the existing building on the La Mirada High School were finishing up and completed for the September 2006/2007 school year. The modernization included “gutting” the interiors of the existing building and installing new flooring, wall and ceiling finishes. Additional improvements included new lighting, electrical, data, telephone, clock/bells, fire alarm, Cable TV and energy management systems as well as new heating and air conditioning units in all of the classroom and ancillary spaces.

“The students and teachers at La Mirada High School are excelling in the added classroom, science lab and support space provided by the Measure S Expansion project,” said NLMUSD Superintendent Ginger Shattuck. “The Measure S renovations and expansions have provided the students in our district with modern, efficient and comfortable learning environments that offer a more enjoyable educational experience and will surely aid them in their future academic pursuits.”

Operating as program and construction manager, McCarthy’s contract with NLMUSD includes planning, preconstruction, bid activities and management of scheduling and construction for the district-wide school facility modernization and expansion program.  Since 2003, McCarthy has completed more than 20 school modernization projects and two expansion projects for NLMUSD. The last Measure S project is expected to complete in early 2010.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings;  office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

K-12 EDUCATION

“This project was designed with the highest educational mission in mind-to accelerate our students’ learning experience and improve academic achievement. McCarthy, Regent and HMR delivered a facility that exceeded our expectations.”

- Rick Jennings, school board member and chairman of the facilities committee, SCUSD

McCarthy recently completed America’s Choice High School, the newest addition to the Sacramento Unified School District (SCUSD). The 45,808-square-foot, 8-building charter school facility, funded in large part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is situated on 13 acres and serves a maximum of 500 students.

America’s Choice breaks the traditional school “box” model and provides a supportive learning environment designed to resemble that of a college or university campus setting. The main focal point of the school is a central corridor featuring an exterior amphitheater. The unique complex is complete with exterior brick work, barrel roofs, intricate wood framing and decorative facades and canopies. The facility caters to the highest of academic amenities, such as laboratories equipped to handle complicated experiments and a specialty computer lab to foster a technology curriculum. Other features include: 20 classrooms, administrative and multipurpose buildings, a fully functioning cafeteria, and a library, as well as athletic fields. Architect: HMR Architects, Inc., Sacramento, Calif. Project Developer: Regent Development, Inc., Sacramento, Calif.

The stadium includes a Field Turf synthetic field for football and soccer; a nine-lane, all-weather urethane track; a lighted scoreboard; equipment for track and field activities, including the high jump and pole vault; and a fully equipped press box with an elevator.

“Students have been playing their hearts out on this dusty old field for decades.  We just wanted to give them the same opportunities that other students at surrounding school districts have—state-of-the-art facilities that enhance student-athlete experiences,” said Paramount High School District superintendent Dr. David J. Verdugo.

As project manager, McCarthy is working with architect LPA Inc. to complete a three-phase expansion at the school.  The firms will continue construction on another component of phase I—a baseball complex—through November.  The project includes a collegiate-level field with 350-foot left and right field lines, a 385-foot center field fence, a vinyl-coated backstop, fully sub-drained natural turf area to ensure durability and year-round access, concrete dugouts, multiple batting cages and enclosed bullpens.

Phase II’s stadium field house is currently in design and is slated for construction in spring of 2009.  The final segment of Paramount High School’s program will include expansion to the existing gymnasium, a new mini gymnasium and library, upgrades to the existing auditorium and classrooms and a new science building.  The construction is anticipated to continue through 2010.

Paramount High School’s construction projects are being funded through Measure AA.  The $100 million bond was passed in November 2006 by more than 74 percent of voters—the highest level of support of any bond on the ballot in Los Angeles County.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Scheduled for completion in July 2009, the new 130,700-square-foot school will be constructed using tilt-up panels attached with structural steel framing members and elevated composite-deck concrete floor slabs.  

“We are pleased to have McCarthy constructing another campus for us,” said Paul Gerner, Clark County School District facilities associate superintendent. “Given their knowledge and experience in effectively using CMAR, we feel that McCarthy is well suited to construct this school for the School District utilizing this project delivery method.”

 Designed by Welles-Pugsley Architects, the 24-acre site includes a five-building campus with separate buildings for the gymnasium, commons, administrative and resource facilities as well as sporting fields, courts and a fitness trail throughout the campus.

 Continuing the trend of utilizing alternative energy, the school will have a geothermal well system similar to the system McCarthy installed at Burkholder Middle School in Henderson.  The well system will be used to produce ground source heating and cooling; other energy efficient measures include a translucent window replacement system, solar tabs and energy recovery vents to circulate fresh air around the school.

About McCarthy
Recently named among the “Best Places to Work” by the Southern Nevada Human Resources Association and   “Contractor of the Year” by both the Nevada Contractors Association and the Associated General Contractors, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has helped define the Southern Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at http://www.mccarthy.com/.

“One of the major challenges in renovating an existing campus is working around the schedule without disrupting the educational process,” said Rob Langhoff, vice president and director of McCarthy’s Educational Services Group in Phoenix. “We’ve mastered the process of working within the boundaries of an educational setting while maintaining a safe environment and meeting the sometimes very ambitious construction schedule – which often means completing right before the start of school.”

McCarthy is currently working toward completing new schools in Chandler and Florence, as well as major renovations for the Tempe Unified School District, Chandler Unified School District and Scottsdale Unified School District. All told, McCarthy education teams are completing more than 500,000 square feet of construction at campuses throughout Maricopa County.

McCarthy teams at Chaparral High School are working doggedly to complete the majority of the $50 million modernization of that campus – a 372,000-square-foot renovation of all but three buildings on the campus. The project includes a new gymnasium, remodeling of an existing auditorium, a new media center and several classrooms, and the remodeling of existing facilities on campus to accommodate other uses. Other site improvements include new hardscaping, landscaping, parking lots and tennis courts.

“The intrinsic value of this bond program cannot be understated – it’s helping to make our district a magnet for top quality faculty and creates a focused and energized student body,” said Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent John Baracay.

Other projects McCarthy will complete before the beginning of the year:

• Education and maintenance facility (36,000 square feet),
  Gilbert Unified School District
• Circle Cross Ranch School (new 105,000-square-foot, K-8 school)
  Florence Unified School District
• Mensendick Elementary School Classroom addition (30,681 square feet), Glendale Elementary School District
• Scales Elementary School (64,401 square feet),
  Tempe School District No. 3
• Holdeman Elementary School (63,875 square feet),
  Tempe School District No. 3
• Thew Elementary School (63,311 square feet),
  Tempe School District No. 3
• HVAC upgrades at eight campuses within the
  Chandler Unified School District
• Adora Trails Elementary School (new 90,000-square-foot campus),
  Chandler Unified School District

McCarthy was able to parlay its partnership with the Tempe Elementary School District to benefit a new charter school in South Phoenix – Eagle College Prep Elementary school. Holdeman and Thew elementary schools were looking for a good use for their used equipment. Thanks to McCarthy’s community relationships, the gently used equipment has a new home at a very gracious start-up school.

“It’s great to facilitate relationships that benefit our communities – this happened because of great timing and the community relationships that our teams have established,” Langhoff said.

In addition to the educational projects completing in the next several weeks, McCarthy has several other school projects wrapping up in the next six to 12 months in Florence, Peoria, Maricopa and Tempe.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held construction companies.  The firm provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Demolition and earthwork for the stadium and support buildings are complete and construction has started on the new facility.  The new 6,000-seat stadium will include a field for football and soccer; a nine-lane track; equipment for track and field activities including the high jump and pole vault and a fully equipped press box.  The adjacent athletic field house, to be constructed under phase II, will include locker rooms, concessions, weight rooms and other related facilities.  The project is currently in design and is slated for construction in spring of 2009.

 The final segment of Paramount High School’s program will include expansion to the existing gymnasium, a new mini gymnasium and library, upgrades to the existing auditorium and classrooms and a new science building.  The construction is anticipated to continue through 2010.   

 Paramount High School’s construction projects are being funded through Measure AA.  The $100 million bond was passed in November 2006 by more than 74 percent of voters—the highest level of support of any bond on the ballot in Los Angeles County.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.