Former Mayor and current council member Frank G. Fry spoke during the ceremony along with McCarthy Project Manager Blaze Bartoli. The event was both a thank you to the contractors and a tribute to the progress made thus far. The Chief of Police Andy Hall, Captain Mitch Waller, Captain Ron Coopman and Sgt. Brian Carpenter were in attendance along with several other dignitaries from the city of Westminster, construction workers and project consultants.

During the topping out event, the final steel beam was signed by event guests and an American flag and evergreen tree were attached to the beam before it was lifted and secured to the top of the police headquarters structure. Marking the mid-way point in the life of a construction project, the topping out tradition of attaching a tree and flag to the final structural beam has been practiced by construction workers for over 1000 years. The tree represents growth, life and good luck during the project and for the building’s future occupants. The flag is displayed as a patriotic symbol that signifies the united effort by the project team to achieve a common goal.

Westminster City Mayor Margie L. Rice was unable to attend the event, but McCarthy arranged for the beam to be lowered and signed by her after the event. Mayor Rice said she was honored and excited to sign the beam and to be included in this project milestone for the Police Headquarters, which is part of the overall revitalization plan for the Westminster Civic Center.

The $65 million (development cost) police headquarters project includes construction of a 91,000-square-foot police building housing an upgraded 911 communications center, a new forensic lab, increased evidence storage capacity, an Emergency Operations Center, a Type I jail facility and administrative work space. The project also includes site work such as driveways, surface parking, a sallyport, landscape and fire access lane improvements.

On schedule for completion in May 2011, the police building was designed by AECOM of Orange, Calif. to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Requirements.

The Westminster Police Department Headquarters is one of three police facilities McCarthy is currently constructing in partnership with Griffin Structures. McCarthy is serving as construction manager and Griffin Structures in the program manager. The other projects include a 62,064-square-foot police station in Buena Park, Calif., and a 55,000-square-foot police station in Hesperia, Calif.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The new $20 million San Diego Mesa College Allied Health Building is being funded by the Proposition S Construction Bond, which was approved by San Diego voters in 2002. Construction began last May, and is slated for completion this September. The road realignment, considered phase three of the project, is scheduled for completion in December.

Situated off Mesa College Drive at the main campus entry, the Allied Health facility will serve as a prominent landmark for San Diego Mesa College. It is the second instructional building to be built at Mesa College utilizing Proposition S funds. The building will house a computer lab, classrooms, a clinical dental lab, physical therapy lab, medical lab, plus faculty and staff offices.

Designed by San Diego-based Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the Allied Health Building incorporates a three-story layout to accommodate all of the uses required by the faculty, staff and students on the compact site. To reduce the vertical emphasis of the building, the exterior design incorporates multiple horizontal design elements, such as a continuous ribbon window curtain wall system with integral horizontal window eyebrows. The curtain wall plays a significant role in shading the glass and reducing the amount of internal solar gain inside the building.

Another important design element is the stone cladding on the more powerful vertical elements such as stairs and entry areas. This will be the first building on the campus to use stone elements on the exterior.

An important objective for all Propositions S and N construction projects is to obtain the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible.  The Allied Health Building is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification status.

Among the sustainable design elements of the building are low-water use landscape, construction and design materials with a high recycled content, high-efficiency energy systems and Energy-Star roof systems.  The Allied Health Building’s power requirements will be offset in part by energy generated by solar panels located on the roof of the adjacent parking structure.

Phase three of the project, involving the extensive realignment of an existing roadway, challenged the team to perform the majority of the work without interrupting the access/egress requirements of the campus. The McCarthy project team worked with the District to save several months on the District’s original schedule and sequencing plan. The shorter phasing plan will significantly reduce the campus disruption and ultimately save the taxpayers and the District a considerable amount of money.

Project team consultants include Hope Engineering for structural engineering, RBF Consulting for civil engineering and Xnth for mechanical and electrical engineering. Wimmer Yamada & Caughey is the landscape architect, and Churchill Engineering, Inc., is the code consultant. Gafcon is the program manager for the Propositions S and N construction program for the San Diego Community College District.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years having managed construction or built more than 400, K-12 school projects nationwide, totaling more than $2 billion in construction value, and more than 200 higher education projects on more than 40 campuses.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com

Launched in 2001, LEED Professional Accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process. A LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) has demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and of the LEED Rating System.

About McCarthy
Recognized by the Nevada Contractors Association as the “Safest Contractor of the Year” in 2008, McCarthy has helped to define the Southern Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. As a green construction company, McCarthy strives to meet community and national standards in high performance building. Creating innovative structures that blend form with function, in harmony with the environment, employees are active participants with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Well-established, in-house training programs support the company’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professionals.  Founded in 1864, McCarthy is one of the oldest and largest privately held construction firms in the nation. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. For more information, visit www.mccarthy.com.

The facility will be a striking structure composed of a long sweeping roof flanked by two stories of cast-in-place concrete walls. The front entrance will feature a large expanse of glass, and the finishes will consist of wood harvested from local stocks.

Intended to provide lyrical and elegant addition to the Arts District the facility will be organized as a series of linear pavilions, capped by varying ribbon-like roof forms and will consist of a 750-seat theatre, two flexible 200-seat theatres, art galleries, a café, a bookshop, an enclosed garden and educational and meeting spaces.  Each of the different interior spaces is clearly defined, making the complex easy to navigate and utilize.

“McCarthy is pleased to be an integral part of the expansion of the Dallas Arts District,” said McCarthy’s Texas Division President Mike McWay. “The City Performance Hall provides McCarthy with an opportunity to once again showcase our abilities as a leading Dallas Arts District builder while working with an outstanding team of professionals dedicated to the complex job at hand.”

“It is exciting to be working with McCarthy on such an important building for the city of Dallas in the Arts District,” said Rick Galceran, P.E., Director of the Public Works and Transportation Department for the City of Dallas. “We are confident that with their expertise in building performance arts facilities, McCarthy will be able to provide the quality we expect with the resources we have available.”

In addition to the City Performance Hall, some of McCarthy’s notable performing arts projects include the AT&T Performing Arts Center, a unique 80,300-square-foot multi-form theatre facility in the Dallas Arts District; the Hollywood & Highland entertainment complex including the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, a $312 million, 833,109-square-foot, mixed-use facility known as home to the Academy Awards; and the University of California Davis Robert & Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, California, a $51.5 million, 106,000-square-foot, multi-level, 1,800-seat main performance hall with a 25-seat studio theatre.

The City Performance Hall is expected to be complete in 2010.  The architect of record for this project is Corgan Associates, Inc. of Dallas and the design firm is Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (SOM) of Chicago.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held construction firms.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for entertainment, healthcare, education, parking, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; 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 plant currently serves 400,000 customers with an initial treatment capacity of 80 million gallons per day (mgd) and is expandable to an ultimate capacity of 320 mgd.

The Lake Pleasant plant was completed for the city of Phoenix by the design-build-operate (DBO) team comprised of the Black & Veatch-McCarthy joint-venture design-build team and American Water Enterprises, Inc., a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), which is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company.

Phoenix Councilman Claude Mattox, who serves as the vice chair of the National League of Cities Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Steering Committee, congratulated the team on the accomplishment. “Thanks to the efforts of the partners and our city engineers, this state-of-the-art water treatment plant will serve our growing community well into the future,” said Mattox.

The new plant, which is the largest integrated DBO project in North America, was designed to blend seamlessly into the desert landscape without disturbing the natural beauty of the area. As a result, 95 percent of the habitat was preserved in its natural condition.

The plant incorporates the latest developments in modern water technology and automation, which will benefit the residents of Phoenix.  The design-build process included sustainable features that lay the groundwork for future customer growth and development, expanded capacity and emerging treatment technologies. The team also successfully focused on developing the water treatment plant with streamlined, efficient operations.

“A key to the success in achieving our goals was to combine all resources under one roof, which enabled a collaborative work environment,” said Dave Mahaffay, senior vice president and West region managing director for Black & Veatch’s global water business. “All parties involved were focused on delivering the project on time and within budget, as well as on ensuring operational excellence in safety and construction management.”

According to Bob Knochenhauer, senior vice president of operations for McCarthy’s Southwest Division Water Services Group, “The team’s collaborative approach was critical to the effective management of each phase of this complex project. It allowed for construction to start two months ahead of schedule and a budget reduction of $30 million, positioning both the team and the community for success.”

The treatment process design incorporates seven independent barriers for pathogens, virus and bacteria removal while typical treatment plant designs incorporate three to four barriers. Selected water treatment processes – such as high-rate ballasted flocculation, ozone, granular activated carbon contractors and ultraviolet – achieve superior operating and cost efficiency with numerous inventive improvements specific to residents’ needs, the local environment and available resources.

The national award was presented at the DBIA Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony held recently in Las Vegas.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black & Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, program management, construction management, environmental, security design and consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With $3.2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six continents. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.

About American Water
Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in 32 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

About McCarthy
Ranked among the “Best Places to Work” by The Business Journal in Phoenix, McCarthy has helped define the Arizona landscape for more than 30 years. Founded in 1864, McCarthy is one of the oldest and largest privately held construction firms in the nation. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. For more information, visit www.mccarthy.com.

The three-story Health and Wellness Center will consist of medical offices, laboratories and exam rooms, a pharmacy, a physical therapy rehabilitation facility, an imaging room, and meeting rooms.  The facility will also feature a Wellness Garden that will be landscaped to promote recovery and peace in the natural outdoor setting.

The project is currently seeking LEED Silver certification and will incorporate several green features, including a green roof containing vegetation to absorb harmful UV rays and reduce reflectants; an environmentally friendly mechanical system consisting of chilled beams that reduce the need for costly air conditioning; and recycled and earth-friendly building materials.  Additionally, approximately 80 percent of the materials removed during the demolition will be recycled. WRNS Studio LLP is the primary architect.

This is McCarthy’s third project on the UCD campus, having completed the Activities and Recreation Center in 2004 and the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in 2002.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2008), and the 4th largest general contractor in California (California Construction, April 2008). With more than 140 years of experience, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest, privately held construction firms and one of California’s premier commercial builders.  Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, educational, parking structure, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; multifamily residential and bridges and highways.  In addition to Sacramento and San Francisco, McCarthy has offices in Newport Beach and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Since the 336,180-square-foot facility is situated on a hillside to the east, construction required custom formwork to support the placement of concrete on the hill.  The result is a structure where vehicles can enter from the hillside 

directly onto the first four floors.  On the opposite side from the incline, the northwest corner has a pedestrian bridge to a standalone elevator tower that services each level of the structure.

The structure was constructed with a ductile moment frame to resist lateral forces during an earthquake.  McCarthy also reinforced the concrete structure by post tensioning it so that it may offset external loads from daily vehicle usage.

During construction, McCarthy had to maintain open access between the campus and a large parking lot on the other side of the construction site.   To do this, McCarthy installed a temporary, 70-foot stairway that allowed construction crews to work unhampered and limited the inconvenience for those parking in the upper lot.  In addition, the college created off-site parking for students and staff for the duration of construction.

Designed by International Parking Design of Sherman Oaks, Calif., the project features a $2.8 million solar panel system on the fourth and sixth levels.  A joint venture between the school and Glendale Water and Power, the panels are expected to generate 580,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which is 10 percent of the school’s energy usage. 

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been one of the nation’s leading parking structure builders since the advent of the modern parking structure in the 1960s.  The company has delivered nearly 400 parking facilities throughout the United States, with parking spaces for more than 70,000 cars in California alone.  The firm offers general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for parking structures; healthcare, educational, mixed-use, laboratory, biotechnical, retail, entertainment, industrial, multifamily and microelectronics facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

 The 279,000-square-foot Acute Care Pavilion will house a much-needed surgical center, 84 medical-surgical beds, a neonatal intensive care center, and a cancer center to aid in fulfilling the increasing demand for children’s critical care in the San Diego area.  Specifically, the facility will include 16 operating rooms with associated support departments, a 28-bed hematology and oncology unit, a 10-bed bone marrow transplant intensive care unit, a 32-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and 84 acuity adaptable medical surgery beds.  Completion of the project is scheduled for the summer of 2010. 

The new Acute Care Pavilion, prominently visible from I-805 heading north from Mission Valley, is situated on a 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the Rady Children’s Hospital campus, just south of the existing Rady Children’s Hospital Rose Pavilion. A bridge will connect the existing facility to the new five -story building.

A topping-out ceremony was held on July 25th.  A steel beam, signed by the project team members, was hoisted into the air, together with an Evergreen tree and the American flag, as part of the traditional ceremony.  A second, smaller beam, to be signed by young patients at a later date, will be encased for display in the new facility.

“McCarthy and its project team members can be very proud of its efforts to date, already being one week ahead of schedule and maintaining an excellent safety record,” said Rady Children’s Hospital President and CEO Kathleen Sellick, who addressed the workers during the topping out ceremony. “The new Patient Care Pavilion is the centerpiece of Rady Children’s strategy to address the critical need for urgent care in the region, and we are so grateful to all the workers for being part of this vital mission.”

McCarthy began its utility coordination efforts and on-site construction planning activities just one year ago.  Working with McMahon Steel and its partners at Rady Children’s, the company chose to place an early steel order.  Through solid teamwork, the company was able to beat its initial steel erection timeframe and top out steel ahead of schedule.

“To be off to such a strong start on a very complicated OSHPD project, knowing what is at stake here, is a very big deal to all of us,” said Ben Meyers, project director for McCarthy, who’s heading up the project for McCarthy Building Companies.  “This Acute Care Pavilion must finish on time, and being ahead of schedule at the topping out milestone confirms we’re on course to meet that goal.”

Another prominent goal for the $260 million Acute Care Pavilion is to achieve a facility that can be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified under guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Building green is a growing trend in the healthcare industry,” said Meyers.  “It contributes to the “health” of the building environment, which the patients and staff come in contact with every day.  The design of this project incorporates environmentally friendly materials and interior coatings as well as judicious indoor air-quality monitoring and management.” 

In addition to providing excellent indoor air quality, the design incorporates natural light and utilizes high-efficiency air conditioning and mechanical equipment to provide sustainable, lower-overall life cycle operating costs that positively impact the ongoing operation of the hospital. The building also will feature a green roof system that will help minimize the building heat gain and control the rainwater run off from the roof.  

Designed by San Francisco-based architectural firm Anshen+Allen, the building features a glass fiber reinforced, precast concrete exterior; dimensional travertine stone; storefront and curtain wall glass systems with colored accents; and metal panels, railings and canopies.

KPFF of San Francisco is the structural engineer; RBF, San Diego, civil engineer; Randall Lamb, San Diego, electrical engineer; Shadpour Consulting Engineers, San Diego, mechanical engineer; and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley is serving as landscape architect. Completion of the project is scheduled for the summer of 2010.
McCarthy also handled the design/build services for the adjacent 332,279-square-foot parking structure, with space for 1,039 vehicles on five levels.  The project was completed at the end of 2007.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been ranked among the top five national healthcare construction companies by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The 131,500-square-foot tower will comprise a women’s services department with labor-delivery-recovery-post partum (LDRP) rooms, two C-section operating rooms and a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); 70 general medical-surgical beds; an intensive care unit; a chapel; and dining facilities.  The addition will also include 22,300 square feet of shell space to accommodate 35 more beds.
 
Designed by HMC Architects, the project is seeking LEED^® certification through the United States Green Building Council.  Sustainable measures will include storm water retention and filtration; use of recycled and regional materials; diversion of 75 percent of construction waste from landfills; use of low VOC emitting materials for paints, adhesives, carpets and composite wood products; improved energy efficiency; and the encouragement of alternative transportation methods.  Currently, only four hospitals in the country are LEED^® certified. 
 
One of only two 24-hour trauma centers in the San Fernando Valley, Providence Holy Cross has been consistently recognized as one of the premier hospitals in the country for cardiac, cancer and women’s health services.
 
Completion is estimated for early 2011.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held commercial construction companies and has been ranked among the top five national hospital construction companies by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, 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 Boy Scout troop began with an orientation and Q&A session in the conference room of McCarthy’s onsite construction trailer, before going on to study construction drawings and a 3-D model in the planning room. The boys learned firsthand from McCarthy representatives how such a project goes from construction drawings to actual completion.

From there, the Boy Scouts and their parental guardians suited up in hard hats, vests and safety glasses and proceeded on a guided tour of the actual construction site, where they were given a behind-the-scenes peek of the new Acute Care Pavilion coming out of the ground. The Boy Scouts were able to view the skeletal frame of the four-story structure — elevator shafts and all — and learn what will make this project “green.”

“It was gratifying to experience the wonder and excitement of these young, eager-to-learn Boy Scouts,” said Steve Van Dyke, senior project manager for McCarthy, who spearheaded the community outreach event.  “It was a good opportunity for us to expose young people to the types of jobs available in the construction industry, should they choose this career path later on.”

Situated on a 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the Children’s Hospital campus at 3020 Children’s Way in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego, the new state-of-the-art Acute Care Pavilion will house a surgical center with 16 operating rooms, 80 private patient rooms, a new-natal intensive care unit and a cancer center. Slated for completion in 2010, the building is striving for LEED certification.

About McCarthy Heart Hats
The McCarthy “Heart Hats” community involvement program is dedicated to encouraging, supporting and recognizing McCarthy employees’ volunteer efforts in a variety of causes to ensure real needs are being met in communities where employees work, live and play. Some of the past recipients of McCarthy Heart Hats efforts in Southern California include American Heart Association, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Vallejo Hospital Community Clean-Up, Ocean Institute, Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children, the Salesian Boys and Girl’s Club, the Salvation Army transitional housing Nancy Painter Home, and the San Diego Children’s Hospital and Health Center. McCarthy employees are as passionate about building better communities as they are about construction. In addition to recognizing outstanding employee volunteers and providing a companywide paid volunteer day, McCarthy “Heart Hats” donates countless hours of in-kind services and monetary contributions to improve communities each year.

Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. 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.