Northwest Regional Report

Region turns to universities, tourism, public projects

By Sam Barnes

Although the cities of Shreveport and Bossier City have been the shining lights of the northwest region, the remaining municipalities in the quadrant have earned the right to toot their horns, too.

Natchitoches, the area's next largest municipality, supports a healthy level of construction investment that comes from a variety of areas.

Nick Pollacia, executive vice president of the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce, said Natchitoches continues to derive much of its revenue from Northwestern State University, the tourism industry and state-funded projects. The new Red River port is also gradually attracting new industry.

"Natchitoches continues to develop itself as a major tourism destination - the Ft. St. Jean Baptiste State Commemorative Area has a new interpretive center being built as part of that in the middle of downtown," Pollacia said.

A record enrollment at Northwestern this past school year, as well as increases in employment up to 800 employees at Alliance Compressor, have buoyed sales tax revenue.

"We've been able to maintain stability thanks to all this, despite the overall economic conditions," he said.

He said the creation of a new Natchitoches Economic Development Commission in 2001 has already resulted in the attraction of new industry to his area, which eventually leads to new construction opportunities.

"This (EDC) is run out of the mayor's office, and we think it's going to be a tremendous resource," he said. "Its number one benefit is that it will have more power to accomplish things by working through the mayor's office, and it puts more people and emphasis on economic development. Chambers of Commerce can't always attract that kind of involvement," The EDC will also work with workforce education and development.

The Natchitoches area has several potential construction investments itemized in Louisiana's Capital Outlay Budget, although these are far from receiving guaranteed funding.

Following are some significant construction projects currently under construction across the northwest region.

Demon Wellness Center, Northwestern State University. Construction crews can be seen crisscrossing the Northwestern campus, with multiple renovation projects in varying stages of construction.

The largest project - the $6.6 million renovation and expansion of the Demon Wellness Center - will result in a 21,000-sq.-ft. extension to the facility that will eventually support a new weight room, cycle room, handball court and running track.

The facility is designed by Slack, Alost, McSwain & Associates, Shreveport.

A. J. Loga, jobsite superintendent with Don Barron Contractor, Farmerville, the project was in the early stages of construction in May, when crews demolished portions of the existing building to make way for the new extension.

"Technically, the new building has three levels," he said. "It will have a basement, a ground floor and a balcony (with a running track) around the whole building and through the new addition."

The basement area will contain locker rooms, weight rooms and workout areas, while the second level will support offices.

"When we start new construction, we'll first construct 96 drilled piers for the basement area," Loga added. The structure will be built with concrete block, brick and EIFS.

Morrison Hall and Consumer Sciences Building (renovation), Northwestern State. Nearby, two buildings that share a courtyard are being renovated simultaneously by Natchitoches-based RDS Construction Inc.

Ronald Smith, RDS president, said the $4.2 million project requires the renovation and re-roofing of the two-story masonry Morrison Hall and the Consumer Sciences Building, as well as installation of a new chiller unit and tower and the demolition and re-building of the courtyard between the two buildings.

The buildings were originally constructed in the late 1940s.

"Both buildings were completely gutted out, except for the staircases," Smith explained. "New elevators were put in each and new walls went back up. I'd say we're about 80 percent complete. This thing is going to be gorgeous."

Architect Wayne Coco with Coco & Co., Simmsport, designed the renovations, and construction broke ground in December 2002.

"We were fortunate that there was no structural damage we had to contend with," Smith said. "These are well-built, pan-formed buildings that were rather costly to build in their day." RDS crews discovered old 1940s-era newspapers "stuffed into the voids of the pan forms" that were used to prevent the concrete from running out of the voids."

Exterior work was minimal, with the brick "pointed up and waterproofed" and some exterior components removed, refurbished and replaced.

"There's a lot of coping and stone on the project. The pieces that were broken were matched and replaced," he added.

JRT Operations Facility, Fort Polk. The Orlando office of VOA Associates Inc., architecture, planning and interior design, recently announced that construction is underway on an extensive renovation project to convert a five-story barracks building into a U. S. Army headquarters building at Fort Polk.

VOA is providing full architectural/engineering services, partnering with Gibbs Construction, New Orleans, on the design-build contract for the headquarters Joint Readiness Training Center, formerly known as Building 350 at Fort Polk. The $10.6 million renovation is scheduled for completion by January 2004.

Ted G. Fery AIA, principal with VOA and director of the firm's Military Design Program, said the 81,300-sq.-ft. project will consolidate the operations of The Army Joint Readiness Training Center and the Fort Polk Headquarters, creating a modern executive center for the post.

"The building was originally used for housing bachelor officers located at the installation," Fery explained. "Upon completion, the new building will consolidate approximately 19 different departments into one facility."

Consolidated Library Building, Fort Polk. Dual buildings joined by a common lobby are under construction at Fort Polk, to ultimately serve as a new consolidated library and two-story education center.

Both structures, costing about $10 million, are being constructed of structural steel and masonry by Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport. Work began in December.

"We are roughly about 40 percent complete, with the steel up and the slabs on the education building already poured," indicated Mark McDaniel, senior project manager. "We're now starting the steel studs and masonry." A majority of the buildings' exteriors consist of concrete block and brick, with some stucco above the window areas.

An atrium-style structure, also made of steel, connects the two buildings.

McDaniel said that approaching the project in design-build fashion has enabled the contractor to maintain the schedule despite the fact that the design was incomplete at groundbreaking. Studio South of Gulfport, Miss., is the design firm used by Roy Anderson at the site.

"The design started in August," McDaniel added. "We did a preliminary design, a technical proposal first, then a preliminary set of drawings, and each time we did that we had a meeting. We minimized changeorders that way.

The contractor is engaged in several other military projects across the country being coordinated in similar fashion.

South Toledo Bend State Park, Sabine Parish. Leesville contractor Pat Williams Construction is in the middle of constructing 25 small wood-framed buildings in the middle of the piney woods at Toledo Bend Lake. The project will ultimately construct a new $8.6 million South Toledo Bend State Park.

Project Manager David Delrie said most of the structures are 1,200-sq-ft. cabins that are interspersed throughout the 380-acre park, located at the southern tip of the lake.

"Right now (late May), we're in the full thrust of the project," Delrie said. "We've got about seven buildings under construction and we're pouring either a footing or a slab every week. Of the 25 buildings, 24 are wood-framed, with one pre-engineered metal building to serve as a maintenance facility."

Nineteen of the buildings are "cookie cutter" cabins, with the remaining wood buildings to serve as a comfort station, restroom buildings, a fee booth and a manager's residence, he added.

Completion of the entire project is scheduled for July 2004.

Early in the project, earthmoving in the hilly terrain presented the greatest challenge for the contractor.

"This is hill country, and to meet DOTD specs a lot of cut and fill had to be done - mostly during bad weather," Delrie said. "Early-on, everything hinged on the roads being passable for the concrete trucks (although none of the paving will be done until later in the project)."

The 3-mile network of roads will be constructed of lime, soil cement and asphalt, with some crushed stone.

Natchitoches Parish Hospital addition. A new $10.4 million, 65,000-sq.-ft. outpatient facility adjacent to the existing Natchitoches Parish Hospital broke ground in late 2002, becoming the largest building project in many years for this northwest Louisiana town.

The project will also include approximately 35,000 sq. ft of renovations to the existing hospital, to be performed once the new addition is complete.

Carl Riche, vice president of general contractor Skip Converse Inc. of Pineville, said the new two-floor outpatient hospital will be physically connected to the existing seven-story hospital's first and second floors.

Site demolition, including the removal of existing parking areas, began last Fall, and was followed by the installation of 300, 40-ft. deep, 18-in.-dia. auger cast piles by L. G. Barcus. A 5-in.-thick concrete floor slab will then be placed.

Structural steel, being furnished and installed by Confab Engineering, Shreveport, began erection in late spring, with "topping out" by the end of the Summer.

The exterior of the structure will consist of stucco, glass and glazing.

"The building will also have four elevator and stair towers, although they will be made of poured-in-place concrete," Riche said.

Upon completion, the new addition will contain several operating rooms, some procedure rooms, several treatment rooms, as well as an Intensive Care Unit area. The radiation treatment rooms will be encased with lead-lined sheet rock.

"We'll probably average anywhere from 50 to 80 crewmen throughout much of the project, with the entirety of the project expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2004," Riche said. "That's when the renovation work will begin."

Renovations to the existing hospital will convert areas that had previously served as outpatient services into expansion of existing departments. A significant amount of interior demolition will occur during the process, with renovations complete by the end of