Chicago’s Deadly 2003 Fire Dispute Settled for $100 Million

Lawyers settled on $100 million over a deadly blaze at the Cook County Administration Building in Chicago, which killed six and injured 16 people on Oct. 17, 2003.

The city, which led problematic fire and rescue efforts, will pay $50 million, the building’s management agency will pay $24 million and its security contractors $11 million. The owner, Cook County, will pay $9 million out of a CNA insurance policy.

The balance is divided among SimplexGrinnell, Folgers Architects, Competitive Piping, UBM and Environmental Systems Design, which renovated the 12th floor, the fire floor, two years prior to the blaze.

The original plans called for the interior walls to go all the way up to the concrete floor above, notes Robert Clifford, the plaintiffs’ lead counsel. Instead, the walls stopped at the dropped ceiling. That is a code violation because it eliminates or compromises the fire rating, he says.

50-Story Building for Loop Announced

River Point Plaza, a 50-story, 1.2-million-sq-ft office with other uses, was recently announced for a site on the Chicago River at 444 W. Lake St.

Eric Fulton, a spokesman for Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Co., the contractor, says a cost has not been announced.

The site is bordered by the Chicago River, and a public plaza will reportedly be constructed over commuter rail tracks.

The building is intended to serve as a headquarters for major corporations and includes the construction of a 200-room, 25 story hotel at the base. The lobby will feature a 65-ft-high expanse of glass that acts as a pr4oscenium arch framing views of the plaza, river and cityscape. Other notable design elements include glass features at the building top and glass pavilion connecting the tower to the hotel.

In addition to Clark, the team includes Houston-based Hines as the developer and New Haven, Conn.-based Pickard Chilton Architects Inc. as the architect. These are the same team members on the 300 N. LaSalle St. office under way in the Loop.

3 Midwest Firms Join Ethics Organization

Three contractors based in the Midwest have joined the recently formed Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative.

They comprise Wheeling-based Kenny Construction Co., Evansville-based Traylor Bros. Inc. and Chicago-based Walsh Construction Co. The organization has 13 total members.

The CEICI was formed to promote ethical behavior and compliance with the law. It is not a lobbying organization but will focus on construction companies’ practices for encouraging ethical behavior.

The chairman is William Dorey, president and CEO of Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction, and the interim coordinator is Richard Bendar, a lawyer in Washington, D.C.

For information, call Kelley Keeler at the AGC of America, 703-837-5310. The CEICI is independent of AGC.

NU Tech Institute To Get Two Additions

Two additions were announced for Northwestern University’s Technological Institute in Evanston.

They comprise a five-story addition to house engineering life sciences programs and a three-story addition that includes a new, larger cleanroom, flexible laboratories, and office space. These facilities will support multidisciplinary research.

The building covers more than 750,000 sq ft and includes classrooms, offices, laboratories and research facilities. Over the last 65 years, the building has undergone multiple renovations and additions.

In this latest expansion, the engineering life sciences addition will house the Integrated Molecular Structure Education and Research Center, which provides shared instrumentation for the analysis of molecules and materials. Totaling 54,000 gross sq ft, the building will also accommodate electrical engineering teaching labs, and core laboratory and office space for researchers whose work emphasizes the life sciences and their relation to engineering.

The cleanroom portion will support new equipment specifically designed for undertaking interdisciplinary research. The balance of the building will be allocated to offices, dry lab spaces, and much needed flexible laboratory space. A new atrium will provide natural light to areas in the existing building and the new 20,000-gross-sq-ft addition.

Madison, Wis.-based Flad Associates is the architect.

Century-Old Busch Hall Planned for Renovation

Originally opened in 1901, Busch Hall on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis is being renovated for $6.3 million.

The building’s history includes being leased to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Co. as headquarters for the architects and engineers employed during the 1904 World’s Fair.

The program calls for repair, refinish, or replacement of doors and drainage systems, improvements to fire protection, HVAC, restrooms, elevator, and data com systems. Electrical and plumbing systems will also be replaced or updated.

St. Louis-based Volk Construction is the contractor, and St. Louis-based Trivers Associates is the architect. The project is expected to be finished in August 2009.

Alberici Acquires Atlanta Firm

St. Louis-based Alberici Constructors has announced the acquisition of WWPS, an Atlanta-based construction firm specializing in water and wastewater facilities.

The newly combined firms will continue to focus and expand on the construction of water and wastewater facilities in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the Southeast.

Ground Broken for Kendall Courthouse

Ground was broken for the $30 million, 128,500-sq-ft Kendall County Courthouse Campus Development project in Yorkville, Ill.

The project includes 120,000 sq ft of additions and 8,500 sq ft of renovation.

The project, expected to be completed in early 2010, includes a new courtroom, faculty offices and mechanical spaces.

The contractor is Gilbane Building Co. in Chicago, and Batavia-based architect Kluber, Skahan + Associates Inc. is the designer.