Roel Wraps Up $18 Million Clubhouse in Coachella Valley

RANCHO MIRAGE--San Diego-based Roel Construction Co. has completed the $18 million Thunderbird County Club clubhouse located on Highway 111.

The existing clubhouse was demolished to make way for the new 49,500-sq.-ft. clubhouse and 6,900-sq.-ft. fitness center. The exterior of the new clubhouse includes stone veneer and concrete roof tiles. Interior work consisted of stone tile, marble, custom casework and granite features. The clubhouse includes a wine cellar, four fireplaces and a water feature in the entry courtyard.

Famed amateur golf champion Johnny Dawson created the Thunderbird Country Club. It opened in 1951, bringing a new club lifestyle to the world and igniting the Palm Springs real estate explosion. The club also was the beginning of several new innovations in the golf industry including the desert's first 18-hole golf course, electric buggy and cart paths and the golf course residential community concept.

Dennis Nighswonger and Jim Eskridge represented Thunderbird Country Club. Mark Davis of Desert Builders was the construction manager. San Diego-based Altevers Associates was the project architect.

The engineering team was comprised of KPFF Consulting Engineers (structural), Mike Salazar & Associates (mechanical), Konsortom 1 (electrical) and Hacker Engineering (civil).

Bilbro Completes T.I. for Children's Hospital and Health Center

SAN DIEGO--Bilbro Construction Co., a San Diego-based general contracting firm, completed tenant improvements for Children's Hospital Pediatric Urgent Care, Mid-City Clinic and La Maestra Dental Clinic located in the City Heights section of San Diego. The project included 8,650 sq. ft. of medical office improvements valued at $845,000.

Kate Herring of HLP Design represented Children's Hospital as project manager. Key subcontractors included Lawrie & Co., KMP Plumbing, Brian Cox Mechanical and Neal Electric.

The children's medical office improvements included procedure rooms, exam rooms, x-ray equipment in a lead-lined room with a protective vision station to protect the equipment operators, and a triage room equipped with negative air pressure to ensure that potentially infectious situations are contained within the designated area.

High-End Industrial Complex Opens in Ventura County

CAMARILLO--A $20 million trio of R&D/industrial buildings with a high-end image has opened in this Ventura County city.

Built by the Thousand Oaks office of Oltmans Construction Co. for Triliad Development Inc. of Thousand Oaks, the buildings occupy an 11-acre site in the Mission Oaks Business Park. The three buildings total 205,117 sq. ft., 110,167 sq. ft. and 94,950-sq.-ft.

Designed by Woodland Hills-based Poloquin Kellogg Design Group, the buildings feature 10-percent mezzanines, tile roofs, deeply recessed windows, tower elements, 25-ft.-clear warehouse areas, dock-high loading, varying panel colors and laminated glass for noise reduction on the freeway elevation.

Phil Saide, project manager for Oltmans, said the buildings are distinguished at the main entry, where 55-in.-deep panel returns, or eyebrows, enhance architectural diversity. Additionally, the use of larger- than-normal panels-measuring 44-ft. wide by 39-ft. tall-allowed for a 25-ft.- high, arched opening.

Ninyo & Moore Retained for Juvenile Hall

SAN FRANCISCO--Ninyo & Moore has been retained by the city and county of San Francisco to provide geotechnical consulting services for the replacement of San Francisco's Juvenile Hall.

Construction will take place over the next 30 months, with completion set for the end of 2005.

The new facility will have 150 beds, compared to its current capacity of 132. It will be a highly programmed, full-service detention facility. The new buildings will be constructed on portions of the existing site, keeping sufficient existing facility space operational to accommodate mandated programs. Once the new structures are completed, the existing housing units will be demolished and a large recreation field will be created in their place.

Kitchell Awarded Contract From Solano County College District

SACRAMENTO--Kitchell has been awarded the contract for Bond Program Planning and Management Consulting Services for Solano County Community College District.

The program management contract is part of a district-wide, six-year, $124.5 million new construction and modernization program.

The district is expecting to add 1,000 students by 2010. Most of the new students will be located at the planned expansions of the Vallejo and Vacaville satellite campuses. The student population at the main Solano Community College campus located in Fairfield has been growing at a rate of 3 percent each year.

Barnhart Begins Construction on Anaheim Academy

ANAHEIM--The Tustin office of San Diego-based construction manager Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. has broken ground on the $8.2 million modernization of Oxford Academy for the Anaheim Union High School District.

Architects Westberg + White of Tustin designed the project.

The academy will undergo renovations in three phases while the campus is occupied. The project is scheduled to be completed in March.

The 95,400-sq.-ft. campus will receive renovations to classrooms, science labs and locker and music rooms, including new energy-saving air conditioning units and electrical upgrades. A new library, gymnasium and classroom building also will be constructed.

Funding for the project is partially derived from the March 2002 passage of Measure Z, a $132 million, general-obligation bond.

The Oxford Academy is a college preparatory school for seventh through twelfth graders. It opened in 1998.

Pepper Starts Sunrise Project

IRVINE--Pepper Construction has broken ground on a five-story Sunrise Assisted Living project in Beverly Hills.

Designed by Mithun Architects of Seattle, the facility will have 80 new residences built over three levels of underground parking.

Pepper is working with the city of Beverly Hills on a community-friendly traffic plan. The goal is to provide minimal impact on surrounding businesses and residents during the 16-month construction period. Construction labor will be bused from surrounding areas to lessen the impact on traffic.

McCarthy to Begin 218-Bed Hospital for Kaiser

PANORAMA CITY--General contractor McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. has begun construction of a $130 million medical center and central plant for Kaiser Permanente.

Anshen + Allen Los Angeles is the architect of record for the 400,000-sq.-ft., six-level Panorama City Medical Center located just south of the existing hospital. The original facility was built in the early 1960s. Upon completion in June 2007, the new acute-care hospital will connect to the existing facility at the basement level.

The new medical center will meet new seismic requirements for all general acute care hospitals in California that have been imposed by Senate Bill 1953. To that end, the hospital will be constructed with a structural-steel frame and cast-in-place concrete pile foundation.

McCarthy is also partially refurbishing the basement of the existing hospital and converting it from a cafeteria to a materials management area.

The new hospital will feature an inpatient-care diagnostic and treatment facility accommodating critical-care and acute-care nursing; inpatient and outpatient surgery; labor and delivery; and a neonatal intensive-care unit.

Rudolph and Sletten to Expand Monterey Bay Aquarium

MONTEREY--Foster City-based Rudolph and Sletten Inc. has been awarded a contract for a $10 million renovation and expansion of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The architect is San Francisco-based EHDD.

The project is scheduled to be completed by Memorial Day.

Rudolph and Sletten served as the general contractor for the aquarium's original construction between 1980-84. The company later built the Outer Bay Wing, a major addition to the east of the original building.

The current improvement plan, designed to enhance the visitor experience, will include a larger ticket purchase area with more ticketing stations and skylight-enclosed courtyard area.

Rudolph & Sletten will relocate the aquarium's north wall and construct a steel-truss bridge connecting the upper levels of the two buildings.