Morial Center Contract Ok'd

[JWR]

Expansion should begin in September

Saturday, August 13, 2005

By Robert Travis Scott

Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE -- Construction on the long-delayed fourth phase of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center should begin in September after a legislative committee gave its unanimous support Friday to a new $315 million contract, the project's chief builder said.

John Stewart, president of the New Orleans construction company Broadmoor LLC, said his firm and convention center officials will seek court approval of the agreement in the next few days, and the two sides are expected to sign the contract by the end of next week.

The company will begin clearing the site in about 10 days and begin pile driving next month, Stewart said. The 1.6-million-square-foot expansion, which will create more than 1,000 construction jobs and represent one of the largest building projects in Louisiana history, should be completed in late 2008, he said.

http://www.nola.com/business/t-p/index.ssf...16124232310.xml

[JWR]

This should give a better idea of the size. The current convention center has 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space. The expansion will have over 500,000 square feet.

[YakuzaIce]

This looks alot better than the curent convention center IMO. Won't it be around a mile long now?

[JWR]

Yes, if you were to drive down Convention Center Blvd., turn right on Henderson St., and then left on Tchoupitoulas St. following the length, it would be a mile. The new design is much better. Located in the Warehouse District, the original Great Hall (now Hall A & was a remnant of the 1984 World's Fair. The Convention Center more or less took on the shape of it's surroundings. That's why it has such an industrial style to it. The new addition is supposed to be state-of-the-art, so the design has to stand out, and from the looks of the renderings, it will. The glass of the main lobby entrance sitting at the foot of Convention Center Blvd. should be quite a bit of eye-candy.

[kjb434]

This will be a great addition to the area. I think it will continue to spur on the activity of the warehouse district.

[JWR]

Convention center's construction delays end

NEW ORLEANS (AP)

[JWR]

More eye candy:

[kjb434]

Great pics and good news.

I guess the superdome was cheaper when the state built it back in the 70s as for public financed projects.

Anyway, I think this will also help spur more growth in the wareshouse distric also.

[RedScare]

I still remember reading an article in Time Magazine in the mid 70s talking about the massive price tags of some new and renovated stadiums. The Yankee Stadium renovation was pegged at $163 million, but the Super Dome topped it at $168 million or so. By comparison, the Astrodome, 10 years earlier cost $35 million, I believe.

Oh, for the good old days.

[kjb434]

I think increased cost also went to the fact that the superdome has a solid concrete roof versus plexi glass and at one time a glass roof.

Either way construction cost for large scale projects inevitably goes up since the skilled laber needed for the project cost more and is typically unionized. You won't find illegals working on a skyscraper or large structure project.

[RedScare]

I think increased cost also went to the fact that the superdome has a solid concrete roof versus plexi glass and at one time a glass roof.

Either way construction cost for large scale projects inevitably goes up since the skilled laber needed for the project cost more and is typically unionized.  You won't find illegals working on a skyscraper or large structure project.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it is also because the Super Dome holds 20,000 more spectators than the Astrodome.

BTW, good job bringing illegal aliens into a discussion about a 30 year old magazine article about the price of the Super Dome. I suppose the Astrodome was built with unskilled illegals, thus holding down the cost?

[kjb434]

not really, Houston is also a labor market with very little unions. I'm just thinking of construction today with the illegals. You won't see them building the high-rises. Using american labor is much more expensive.

[JWR]

I think increased cost also went to the fact that the superdome has a solid concrete roof versus plexi glass and at one time a glass roof.

Either way construction cost for large scale projects inevitably goes up since the skilled labor needed for the project cost more and is typically unionized.  You won't find illegals working on a skyscraper or large structure project.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Normally this is true. The Superdome was built with union labor, but the New Orleans Arena was built by an out-of-state contractor using non-union labor. I'm sure that some illegals made their way to the job site. The unions protested outside of the construction site for weeks. And this expansion of the convention center was almost built with unskilled non-union labor. With three contractors bidding on the job, only Broadmoor (which is local) signs collective bargaining agreements with the local unions. In all honesty, I think that it was a huge win for not only the company, but for the local economy as well. It just helps to keep the local dollars at home.

[TSmith]

I think increased cost also went to the fact that the superdome has a solid concrete roof versus plexi glass and at one time a glass roof.

Either way construction cost for large scale projects inevitably goes up since the skilled laber needed for the project cost more and is typically unionized.

[kjb434]

Hey,

thanks for the info.

Check the website below:

Urethane Roof