Panel Focuses on Transformative Projects

Date Posted: July 1, 2015

Posted In: Discussion, News, Projects,

By Calli Luna, Editorial Intern, Construction Forum STL

On the face of it the new Musial/Veterans Bridge, CityArchRiver, IKEA, and Ballpark Village couldn’t be more disparate projects. One commonality links all of them: Each of these additions to St. Louis’ built environment should radically impact the future of our area.

Panel, left to right, DeWitt, Barnes (moderator), Leavey, Gasper,Schnoebelen

On the evening of June 25 at Washington University in St. Louis, the “Building St. Louis Construction Transformation” panel discussed the social and economic transformations their projects are bringing about in St. Louis.

The panelists included William DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals; Mark Gasper, U.S. engineering manager for IKEA Property Inc.; Anna Leavey, program manager for CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation; and Mark H. Schnoebelen, vice president for Massman Construction Co.

The facilitator of the panel was Andy Barnes of Artisan Building Company. The panel was presented by The Technology & Leadership Center, which is the non-academic component of the Professional Education Department within the School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) at Washington University in St. Louis.

The presentation began with each panelist introducing themselves and describing how their project had transformed St. Louis’ economic and social fabric.

DeWitt said Ballpark Village connected the heritage behind the three ballparks that have existed in St. Louis with the future of the city. He said that seats were intentionally left out of the new stadium to allow views from the fan venue to integrate with the project.

DeWitt indicated that the first phase of Ballpark Village addressed the most easily doable aspect of the project. With that in place and an improved economy, he said, hotels, housing, and offices are stronger possibilities as the project develops additional phases.

Gasper said Ikea had been looking for the right site in St. Louis for 10 years. He said one of the reasons they chose this location was because of the great visibility on Interstate 40/64. He said the store would open in the fall of this year.  Editor’s note: IKEA has announced the new St. Louis store will open at 9 a.m. on September 30th.

Leavey said CityArchRiver is a collaboration of  public and private entities, including the CityArchRiver Foundation, Great Rivers Greenway, MODOT, and the National Park Service. She said that despite the challenges now posed by rising waters the central riverfront grounds work is scheduled for completion soon.

In an effort to allow more local participation in the project, the work was split into 10 projects.  Leavey indicated that while effective in attaining the inclusion objective, this has resulted in a lot of juggling on the part of the project team.

Planning Process

Schnoebelen said discussion of a new Mississippi Bridge began in the early ’90s. The Poplar Street Bridge was designed for 60,000 vehicles, but over the years that total had doubled.  Despite the clear need, gaining approval of federal and Missouri and Illinois authorities was challenging. River barge companies objected to adding still more obstacles in the St. Louis stretch of the Mississippi. This resulted in HNTB’s design of a 1,500-foot clear span, one of the longest in the United States.  In 2008 and 2009, the bridge was designed and bid. Construction commenced in 2010 and was completed in 2014.

The CityArchRiver project started in 2007, Leavey said. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc. of New York was selected in an international competition as the landscape architecture firm working on the project. There are also several local architects involved as well. Design of various components is ongoing, even with construction underway.

There are several components to the project that together create a whole that is far greater than the sum of the parts: a safe, accessible and enjoyable experience for residents and visitors that encompasses the energy of the region, the power of the riverfront and the calm beauty of an urban national park. Construction began in 2013 and many of the components will be completed by October 2015, when the nation and the region will come together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Gateway Arch.

“It’s been a long process, but it’s been a very good process,” Leavey said.

Gasper said the normal requirement for an Ikea location is 20 to 30 acres, with highway access. Access to urban rail transit is a global initiative for Ikea, so the proximity to the Metro and development around Cortex resonated with the home furnishings and lifestyle company. The area reflected Ikea’s core customers and their corporate vibe.

DeWitt said the Cardinals decided to use the Cordish Company as the developer because of Cordish’s experience on similar projects in other cities, including Kansas City, Louisville, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The Cardinals determined that the first phase would be retail and there would be surface parking around it that later would be used as building sites. He said the next phase of Ballpark Village will be on the southwest or southeast part of the footprint.

Innovations

Schnoebelen said the Stan Musial/Veterans Memorial Bridge used an alternative technical contract program for bid submissions. That means that if any of the submitting construction teams could come up with a better project delivery process, the team could submit that opportunity for consideration of the owners in lieu of the process outlined in the bid documents. The owners were contractually prohibited from sharing submitted ideas with other bidders. He said that the Massmann, Traylor, Alberici team found, “a new way to skin the cat,” which gave back several million dollars to the owners, but also won the project for them.

Leavey said that for the design of CityArchRiver the team wanted public input. They have a citizen advisory committee, which meets once a month. They also have a universal access design group. “We want CityArchRiver to be available to everyone,” she said.

At Ikea, “Sustainability is key,” Gasper said. Gasper said Ikea has the largest solar array in the state of Missouri on the roof and the store will be entirely lit with LED fixtures. Getting the solar array implement required negotiations with Ameren, Gasper stated. He said this is Ikea’s first store in the U.S. that has transitioned to LED lighting – within the building itself and on the sales floor.

The Ikea store standards are designed in Sweden, which is the brand’s corporate headquarters. They also have an architectural and engineering team of collaborators with whom they work with on a regular basis.

Dewitt said the Cardinals are the only team in Major League Baseball that has a venue like Cardinals Nation. He said the owners of Ballpark Village are the Cardinals and Cordish Company. The general contractor for Ballpark Village envelope was Paric. A number of contractors, notably Clayco, executed interior finish packages.

Design, Contractors, Funding

While the Stan Musial/Veterans Memorial Bridge had a lot of different people working on it,  Schnoebelen said there were only about 100 craft workers on site at any given time. While he acknowledged that some people might consider that a small group for such a large project, the relatively low number was dictated by the long clear span, which had only four headings on which workers could be deployed.

Because there were many agencies, contractors and owners involved in the bridge project, Schnoebelen said the contractors and the owners would meet on a regular basis to have any issues resolved and to establish relationships.

Leavey said the CityArchRiver project is a public/private partnership. Funding sources include the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation,  the National Park Service, Great Rivers Greenway, Proposition P (a special City of St. Louis sales tax), and private funding. In total the construction of the project will cost $380 million.

Transformative

Regarding the transformative aspect of his project, DeWitt said Ballpark Village is a “story that is not fully written.” He said that Ballpark Village has become a sports destination. He said the owners are now ready for the project to realize its potential in the housing, office, and hospitality markets.

Gasper said that because Ikea stores are destinations, this project will attract visitors from an hour or more away from St. Louis. Because the company purchases its sites, the project also represents a long-term commitment to the region and to the community, he said.

Leavey said the goal is to be a vital, welcoming resource for the city, also to build new connections and to increase jobs and the economy.

Schnoebelen said that the bridge transformed transportation because it relieved a lot of traffic. Also, he noted that from an aesthetic standpoint the bridge is good for the city. He also noted that the location of the bridge opens up the north end of the riverfront to development.

Challenges

Moderator Barnes concluded the panel session by asking the panelists what challenges they had faced or are facing on their respective projects.

Schnoebelen joked that naming the new river bridge was a challenge. There were a lot of different names that were considered, he said. He even said that there was discussion of calling it the “Cards/Cubs Bridge.”

“But then the Illinois end of the bridge would collapse every September.”

Leavey said that the latest challenge the CityArchRiver project had was the Mississippi River flooding, with the river 15 feet over its banks.

Gasper said even though the construction team knew that the Ikea project was building on was on an urban site fraught with  infrastructure, there were additional challenges. Part of the site was occupied by Laclede Gas, which remained in place for awhile after work had started. An unidentified cemetery was also found on the site.

DeWitt said that finding a tombstone on the Ballpark Village site was a false alarm. A search of old city records found that a monument company had its offices there. An issue that could not be ignored were the sizeable piers from the old stadium which needed to be excavated.

The Washington University Technology & Leadership Center’s mission is to help assist individuals and their organizations make continuous advancements in productivity and competitiveness. The Center provides education opportunities in a variety of formats including short courses, workshops, and roundtable discussions in the areas of project management, professional development, and technologies. Many offerings intentionally target the built environment. In addition to CEUs, the Center is a registered AIA Education Provider.