Broward Brothers begins Sacramento County animal care facility

Woodland-based Broward Brothers Inc. has started construction on a new Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation Facility for homeless pets.

The new facility will replace the 40-year-old antiquated facility that is expensive to operate and maintain. The new facility will also be a central destination for residents to take care of all their pet needs, learn about issues affecting animals and a place to celebrate the bond between people and their pets.

The 42,000-sq-ft facility is located on a five-acre parcel of property, just steps away from the existing shelter.

The facility will be completed in early 2009 and will be the largest animal care facility in the region. Construction costs were estimated at $20.5 million; however, the project bid was awarded to Broward Brothers and came in $5 million under the original budget estimate.   

The facility was designed by architect George Miers & Associates of Moraga and is intended to be more then just a shelter for homeless pets; it will be a central destination for residents to take care of all their pet needs, learn about issues affecting animals and a place to celebrate the bond between people and their pets.

Features of the new animal shelter will include an outdoor exercise area for dogs, a spacious livestock area, adoption center and a pet “get acquainted” area to set the stage for an adoption match. Services for the public will include a public dog park, public spay/neuter clinic, classrooms for humane education, indoor/outdoor training facilities and a pet supply store.

The building is also planned to be designed as LEED-certified Silver.

McCarthy completes San Diego school

McCarthy Building Cos. has completed the $29.5 million Laura G. Rodriguez Elementary School in the heart of San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood.

McCarthy was commissioned by San Diego Unified School District to provide full construction management services for the new facility. Laura G. Rodriguez Elementary School is one of the district’s 12 new and three rebuilt schools being constructed with funding from Proposition MM, a $1.51 billion bond measure. The K-5 facility, which will accommodate 650 students, was successfully completed in time for the start of the district's school year, September 4.

The new school is situated on a 6.5-acre lot and includes seven structural steel-framed buildings, with plaster exteriors. The buildings house 32 new classrooms, a multi-purpose room, library/media center, a cafeteria, and administrative spaces. The campus also encompasses outdoor play areas and sports fields.

Platt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc. of San Diego served as the project architect. Flores Lund Consultants was the structural engineer: Psomas, civil engineer; Turpin & Rattan Engineering, Inc., electrical engineer; and E/C Engineering, the mechanical engineer.

Gkkworks has two community college projects finished

Irvine-based Gkkworks has completed two projects for community college districts in Southern California.

In Tustin, Gkkworks performed architectural services with consultant DLR Group, for the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy, which is owned by Rancho Santiago Community College District of nearby Santa Ana. DLR Group is an Omaha, Neb.-based architecture, planning, interiors and engineering firm.

Construction manager for the $20.6 million project was Pasadena-based C.W. Driver; general contractor was Bernards of San Fernando, Calif.

The 53,000-sq-ft facility will enable Santa Ana College and the Sheriff’s Department to serve more than 800 academy cadets annually while expanding weekend and evening education and training opportunities for existing law enforcement officers in Orange County and throughout California. The two-building complex occupies 15 acres and includes 38 offices, four classrooms, lecture halls, training yards, a 1,500-seat auditorium/gymnasium and a physical fitness obstacle course.

In Rancho Cucamonga, Gkkworks served as architect on the recently completed Student Services and Administration Building at Chaffey College. The owner of the $9.4 million project is the Chaffey Community College District. 3D International/Parsons was the program manager; USS Cal Builders was the general contractor.

NTD, Brown complete new main library in Lincoln

The NTD Architecture-designed Lincoln Public Library at Twelve Bridges has completed construction in the city of Lincoln.

Designed by NTD Architecture as part of the Twelve Bridges Learning Center master plan, the 39,311-sq-ft facility includes designated areas for adults, young adults, children and periodicals, as well as a computer lab, a homework center, media and reference areas, group study areas, and a community room.

Designed as a joint-venture between the city of Lincoln, the Sierra Community College District and the Western Placer Unified School District, the full-service library will function as a learning resource center for the future adjacent developments of the Sierra College campus and Twelve Bridges High School, both of which are scheduled to begin construction within the next year at the 65-acre site located just south of Twelve Bridges Drive at the intersection of Colannade Drive.

Construction began on the library in August of 2006, and the facility opened its doors to the pubic at a formal grand opening ceremony in October.

Gafcon awarded contract for Orange County Great Park

Southern California-based Gafcon Inc. has been retained by the city of Irvine to provide design management as part of a $25 million contract for the Phase II schematic design of the highly anticipated 1,347-acre urban park being developed within the former El Toro Marine Air Station in Orange County. 

Gafcon was first retained in January 2006 to provide design management for the Great Park Master Plan. To oversee the project, Gafcon formed a joint venture partnership with the internationally recognized lead architect Ken Smith. The partnership, known as the Great Park Design Studio, also consists of a support team of more than 30 consultants that include landscape architect Mia Lehrer + Associates; TEN Arquitectos of Mexico and New York; and Fuscoe Engineering of Orange County.

Phase II of the project involves refining the Great Park Master Plan to complete schematic design, or 30 percent of the detail needed to actually build the park.  The contract is valued at $27.3 million and was approved by the City Council and the Great Park Board this summer. Overall estimate for the Great Park exceeds $1 billion.

Upon completion, the Great Park will be nearly twice the size of New York’s Central Park and one of the largest urban parks to be built in the United States in the last 100 years. The Master Plan includes a two-mile long canyon, 23-acre lake, botanical gardens, sports fields and other public and cultural facilities. A five-story-high tethered helium observation balloon, launched earlier last month, was the first project to be completed at the park. An additional 3,885 acres will be dedicated to open space, education, and other public uses..

Los Angeles Community College District awards more than $5 million in contracts

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees awarded $5,124,000 in construction contracts in October.

The projects include a modernization of the Technology Education Center at Los Angeles Southwest College and the installation of a Sound Blanket project at West Los Angeles College. Each contract is the result of formal competitive bidding, and will receive funding from the Proposition A/AA Bond program, the $2.2 billion bond measures approved by Los Angeles voters in 2001 and 2003.

The district estimates that these two contracts will generate about 51 construction jobs.