University News
Contractors Announced for WIU-QC Riverfront Renovation
May 6, 2010
MOLINE, IL – Build it and they will come.
A project kickoff for the Western Illinois University-Quad Cities new Riverfront Campus was held today (May 6) at the campus' River Drive site. The following contractors, including three Quad Cities companies, were selected following a competitive bid process, managed by the Illinois Capital Development Board, that began earlier this year. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held March 31.
General contractor: McCarthy Improvement Company, Davenport, IA ($6.9 million).
Plumbing and heating/air conditioning: Commercial Mechanical Inc., Dunlap (IL) ($636,000 and $1.1 million, respectively).
Electrical: Russell Electric, Bettendorf, IA ($2.4 million).
Temperature control: Entec Services Inc, Bartonville (IL) ($356,245).
Ventilation: The Schebler Co., Bettendorf (IA) ($919,000).
Fire protection: Automatic Fire Sprinkler, Normal (IL) ($128,700).
"This is yet another exciting day for Western Illinois University-Quad Cities," said Joe Rives, vice president of Quad Cities, planning and technology. "The groundbreaking brought us one step further to the Riverfront Campus becoming a reality, and today's announcement of the contractors moves us even closer to our Spring 2012 opening. We look forward to watching the progress of the Building One renovations."
According to Bill Brewer, WIU Physical Plant assistant director - facility planning and construction who is overseeing the QC campus construction, the total project construction contract is $12.5 million. Additional project costs include furniture and equipment purchases, construction administration fees and change order requests.
"The Riverfront Campus will create jobs while it's being built, employ people when it opens and train people for careers for many years to come," added Capital Development Board Executive Director Jim Riemer. "The Capital Development Board is proud to be involved with this project, and we look forward to the day when we can join WIU for the official opening of the campus."
The selected companies attended a pre-construction meeting prior to the public announcement
May 6 to discuss the project schedule and other related details. Construction is slated to begin in the near future.
"We're looking forward to working with Western Illinois University-Quad Cities on the new Riverfront campus. The campus will be a tremendous asset for our community," said AJ Loss, president of Bush Construction, a subsidiary of McCarthy Bush Corp.
"Russell Electric is extremely excited to be part of building the new WIU-Quad Cities Riverfront Campus," added David Fenton, Russell's chief operations officer. "This project will not only create construction jobs for our community, but it will lead to many more opportunities and will improve the entire Quad Cities area."
In 2003, a donation from Deere & Company of 20 acres of land on the Moline riverfront provided significant momentum for an expanded WIU-QC campus. Planning began to build an additional campus on the riverfront to serve more students, and collaborative relationships were formed with the city of Moline, Renew Moline and the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce, among many others, to develop the riverfront into an educational and business mecca. Three years later, $2.4 million in Opportunity Returns planning funds were released to renovate the 60,000-square-foot former John Deere Tech Center on River Drive. The total cost to renovate Building One is $15.2 million.
With the completion of the Riverfront Campus, WIU-QC -- the only public university in the Quad Cities region -- anticipates serving more than 3,000 students. Building One, the former John Deere Tech Center, will support the College of Business and Technology, including the School of Engineering that is currently housed in The Caxton Building; academic and student services; and University administration. Building Two will allow for the continued growth of the Quad Cities campus and enable academic programs in the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Services and Fine Arts and Communication to be part of the Riverfront Campus.
Western has conducted classes in the Quad Cities for nearly 50 years and serves more than 1,400 students at its current 60th Street campus in Moline and in rented space in other facilities. The current building was opened in 1997, and by 1998, the University was renting space to meet additional course demand. The City of Moline is also revitalizing the area surrounding the WIU-QC Riverfront Campus into an Urban Technology Corridor.
To view architect's renderings of the proposed WIU-QC Riverfront Campus renovation, visit wiu.edu/qc/community/campus.php and wiu.edu/users/caitwp/planning/plan/riverfront/index.html
Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing
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