Case Studies Region: Midwest

Patience isn’t a virtue to Mike Emerson. At least not while carrying out his duties as executive director of facilities management at Elmhurst University, a private liberal arts school in suburban Chicago and affiliate of the United Church of Christ. “We only have our students for four years,” the otherwise congenial Emerson emphasizes during a […]

On one hand, 2020 was about keeping up with day-to-day developments; on the other, planning for an uncertain future. Director of Facilities Josh Schaffer and his crew at the City of St. Charles School District in Missouri started planning for the worst—then hustled to make the best out of a tough situation. “About the time […]

Most six-year-olds spend their days playing with toys or watching Paw Patrol, Odd Squad or SpongeBob SquarePants. It was different for Bruce Meyer. As a young child growing up in rural Illinois, Meyer would sit at a small table with paper, a pencil and a ruler, drawing his family’s house. He’d re-imagine the floorplan so […]

Be careful when you start working on what seems to be a small, seemingly straightforward construction project, says Jonathan Hunley. Likening that situation to finding a stray thread on a sweater, he says if you pull on, it everything can unravel. But even if that happens—as it did with his first project at Bon Secours […]

Days on the road hauling a 53-foot trailer get long. Whether it’s passing under pines in New England, through the sky-wide expanse of the prairies, or down a mountain pass with a brake-busting descent, it can take a lot of drive to keep driving. On the roads crisscrossing the country, its common to see Omaha-orange […]

If you’ve recently stepped into a chain hotel and marveled at the contemporary look and feel—crisp architectural lines and muted colors, registration areas of faux brick and glass, comfy and spacious common areas with fireplaces and modernistic lighting, grotto-like pools and outdoor patios with firepits—chances are it was designed and built by Alpha Construction and its proven team […]

There’s something about the soil in Wisconsin that can be most unsettling—literally—to a house’s foundation. Most of the state is covered by the Ice Age’s glacial deposits and expansive clays much affected by the extreme seasons of the Upper Midwest.  During dry spells—and this region has known drought—the soil shrinks, which can cause what’s been built atop to settle unevenly and oftentimes crack. But with climate change, summer temperatures could be rising and that might mean increased rainfall and […]

Kevin Costner once heard a whispering voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in his Iowa cornfield. One state west, in Nebraska, Lee McQueen has not heard mysterious voices. Still, as the University of Nebraska at Kearney expands into acreage once used to farm corn and alfalfa, the expansion carries a “The Field of […]

McKinley Avenue once wove its way through Ball State University’s North End on a gentle curve approaching and crossing the bridge over Duck Pond. Now that curve has become a traffic circle fronting new residence and dining halls, buildings that are just part of the growth at Ball State, notes Kelly Knable, the university’s director […]

There’s something about an on-site visit from a corporate boss that can be unsettling. Especially in these uncertain economic times. Though Curtis Furtaw doesn’t want that to be the case when he makes regular stops at the eight rental properties he oversees for City Club Apartments. Sure, his letterhead identifies him as senior regional facilities […]