PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Western Carolina
University to start work on
$110M science building
Western Carolina University is
preparing to start construction of a
new 182,989-sq.ft., six story build-
ing. The $110-million structure,
named Tom Apodaca Science
Building, will replace WCU’s exist-
ing, 1970s-era Natural Sciences
Building. Construction will begin
later this year and be completed in
June 2021.

The building will include five sto-
ries of laboratory, classroom, as-
sembly and office space, with the
sixth story serving as a “mechanical
penthouse.” It will feature a large,
150-person lecture hall, a science
commons area on the first floor
and a rooftop plaza for astronomy
observations. Patricia Kaemmerling, current
chair of WCU’s trustees, character-
ized the Tom Apodaca Science
Building as “a transformative facil-
ity.” “This building will offer Western
Carolina University’s students the
high-quality classrooms and labora-
tories necessary for a 21st-century
education,” Kaemmerling said,
adding that the “building also will
serve as a hub for regional eco-
nomic development in Western
North Carolina, capitalizing on the
expertise of Western Carolina’s fac-
ulty.” The ceremony included a bless-
ing delivered by Tom Belt, coordina-
tor of WCU’s Cherokee Language
Program, in recognition of the
building’s location on a site of cul-
tural significance to the Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians.

Duke Hospital plans
$102.4M expansion
Duke Regional Hospital is plan-
ning a $102.4 million expansion, in-
cluding a bigger emergency
department and more facilities for
psychiatric patients, officials from
the Duke University Health System
say. The project will take three
years and require construction on
the north end of the county-owned
hospital. Duke also needs to secure
permission from state regulators
before moving 19 beds for psychi-
atric patients from Duke University
Hospital to Duke Regional.

When finished, the expansion
will give the renovated emergency
department 49 treatment rooms,
rather than the present 36, and 12
private observation rooms in place
of the existing six.

The behavioral-health or psychi-
atric program will get an emer-
gency department of its own with
18 beds. It’ll also have 30 clinic
rooms for treating outpatients and
42 beds for patients whose treat-
ment requires hospitalization.

Those numbers include the beds
transferred from Duke University
Hospital. Vecillio & Grogan wins
$5.7M Polk County
bridges contract
The N.C. Department of Trans-
portation (NCDOT) has contracted
to build two new bridges on U.S. 74
near Pea Ridge Rd. in Polk County,
according to a report in Blue Ridge
Now. The two-lane roadway below
U.S. 74 will connect John Shehan
Rd. to property north of the high-
way in Polk County.

12 — March-April 2018 — The North Carolina Construction News
Vecellio & Grogan was selected
to perform the bridge work for $5.7
million. Construction is expected to be
completed late this summer in time
for the World Equestrian Games,
which will be held at Tryon Interna-
tional Equestrian Center in Mill
Spring, according to the report.

NCDOT awards two
contracts to replace six
bridges in eastern
mountain counties
NCDOT says it has awarded two
contracts to replace a total of six
bridges in eastern mountain coun-
ties. Blythe Development of Charlotte
has been awarded a $2.6 million
contract to replace a bridge on N.C.

194 over Old Field Creek and a
bridge on Tweetsie Railroad Lane
over Middle Fork of the South Fork
New River with culverts.

The work should be complete by
September of 2019. The project on
N.C. 194 in Lansing will have a
marked onsite detour, while the
work near Tweetsie Railroad will be
constructed beside the existing
bridge. James Vannoy & Sons Construc-
tion of Jefferson has been awarded
a $4.05 million contract to replace
four bridges: On Hartzog Ford Rd.

over Beaver Creek in Ashe County;
Abington Road over Greasy Creek
in Caldwell County; Dobbins Mill
Road over Snow Creek in Surry
County; and Neelie Rd. over South
Deep Creek in Yadkin County.

The bridge on Hartzog Ford Rd.

will be completed in stages, and
the bridge on Abington Rd. will be
built adjacent to the existing struc-
ture. The bridges on Dobbins Mill
Rd. and Neelie Rd. will require off-
site detours when construction be-
gins. The replacement work on these
four bridges may also begin on
Monday, Feb. 26 and should be
complete by October of 2019.





PROJECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
These are two of 16 road and
bridge projects awarded by NCDOT
in February. Per state law, they
went to the lowest qualified bidder
for each project. The contracts are
worth $138.6 million, $1.8 million
less than engineer estimates.

lots. The residential community will
only feature single-family homes
ranging in size from 2,700 to 4,300
sq. ft.

Stanley Martin expects to begin
construction at the end of the year.

Stanley Martin plans to
build 100 single-family
homes in Durham
SearStone breaks ground
on Cary healthcare facility
expansion Stanley Martin, which develops
homes in Virginia, Maryland and
North Carolina, plans to develop
more than 100 single-family homes
on the corner of Pickett and Garrett
roads in southwest Durham, The
Herald Sun reported.

About 70 people attended the
groundbreaking for the $1.8 million
building permit value expansion of
Brittany Place, the healthcare facil-
ity located at the SearStone contin-
uing care retirement community in
Cary. The expansion will add 15
beds – nine skilled nursing beds
and six assisted living beds – to
bring the eventual total to 39 beds.

The developer paid around $6.1
million for six parcels of land – ac-
counting for more than 70 acres –
near Cresset Baptist Church, the
Durham County record shows.

CBRE Raleigh, which assisted the
purchase of the property, said the
property will have a total of 101
Steele Group Architects has de-
signed the project, which is being
built by Poythress Poythress Com-
mercial Contractors.

Stan Brading, board chairman for
Samaritan Housing Foundation,
owners of SearStone, welcomed
the attendees and recognized VIPs
in attendance, including Cary Town
Council members Ken George and
Don Frantz, other board members,
Cary Chamber of Commerce am-
bassadors, representatives of Sear-
Stone’s Residents Association, and
David Ammons and Kyle Dilday
from SearStone-RLA, the company
managing SearStone.

“Early in 2016, we recognized
the need for more healthcare beds
to serve our residents,” said Brad-
ing. “We knew we wanted to build
on our existing land, and we closed
on our bond financing in December
of 2016.”
James Souter, Brittany Place ad-
ministrator, and Jarrod Lowery,
southeast regional director for the
North Carolina Department of Insur-
ance, also made brief remarks at
the event before Brady invited se-
lect groups to step forward and
ceremonially “turn the dirt” to offi-
cially commemorate the ground-
breaking. Residents also took turns
with the shovels and took pho-
tographs of the proceedings before
heading into the community’s Win-
ston Clubhouse to enjoy warm bev-
erages. SearStone welcomed its first
residents in 2012, and initial plans
are underway for the second phase
of the community.

Discover more construction,
more cities, more
opportunites www.floridaconstructionnews.com
www.ncconstructionnews.com www.chicagoconstructionnews.com
www.newyorkconstructionreport.com www.cadcr.com
The North Carolina Construction News — Winter 2018 — 13