ConstructionForum 🕸

From Fast Company:  The idea of a straw building might bring to mind a medieval homestead, or perhaps the fairy-tale dwelling of The Three Little Pigs. Used since the 19th century—typically as a rural, rustic building material—straw has been a DIY solution for affordable, earth-friendly construction. But a new wave of contemporary straw designs, as […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  Navigate Building Solutions, a provider of construction management and consulting services, has expanded with a new Kansas City-area office and is hiring there and at its St. Louis headquarters. The new office is located at 6400 W. 110th St., Suite 200, in Overland Park, Kansas. The KC-area office will strengthen […]

From TIME Magazine:  This year, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Interior Business Center moved into a new office space in Denver. Building 48 is part of a sprawling complex of government service buildings, the largest concentration of federal agencies outside of Washington D.C. The building has been repurposed several times; it was previously a […]

From Mid Rivers Newsmagazine:  O’Fallon is planning for the third phase of its Main Street Improvement Project. At the Nov. 21 meeting, the City Council introduced a bill that would approve plans for the Main Street Phase 3 improvement project and authorize acquisition of property. The bill will receive a vote for passage at the […]

From Triple Pundit:  Building operations contribute roughly 27 percent of all global carbon emissions, and the problem is growing. By 2060, the world is expected to add 241 billion square meters of floor area to the global building stock, the largest wave of building and infrastructure growth in human history. That’s the equivalent of adding an entire New York […]

From St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  A St. Louis County contractor is suing businessman David Hoffmann after he allegedly failed to pay for more than $130,000 worth of work at a Clayton office building. Creve Coeur-based Color Art Construction says in a lawsuit filed Monday that Hoffmann personally guaranteed he would make four payments totaling $131,458 for […]

From US EPA:  Today (Dec. 16), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that St. Louis University has been selected to receive a $500,000 grant to help recruit, train, and place workers in community revitalization and cleanup projects at brownfield sites in the Greater St. Louis, Missouri and Illinois metropolitan statistical area. The Brownfields Job […]

OSHA has finalized changes to its PPE standard for the construction industry, requiring all PPE properly fit workers who need it. The updated rule addresses long-standing concerns about ill-fitting equipment and its impact on worker safety. According to a recent release, the revision brings construction standards in line with those already in place for general industry. […]

The IBEW/NECA Electrical Connection’s 29th year of support for the St. Francois County “Shop with a Cop” has attained $100,000 in total donations. The year also marks the end of 32 years of service by St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock, who co-founded the charity event with the late St. Francois County Sargeant George Cobb […]

by Tom Finan, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Construction Forum Editor’s Note: For much of its 36 year history DOORWAYS — an interfaith nonprofit dedicated to improving health and life outcomes of people affected by HIV, has provided services to its clients at about a dozen sites hiding in plain sight scattered through the Central West […]

This week the Construction Forum drone pilot Louis Kelly, owner of Drone Eagle, LLC captured finishing exterior touches on the campus transformation at St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley campus. First shown is the $61.97 million Center for Nursing and Health Sciences. KAI Enterprises is the architect for 100,000-square-foot, four-story center, which will be taller […]

From Webster-Kirkwood Times:  Kirkwood residents should expect to see even more street repairs and upgrades in the coming year, as the city has secured extra funding for two major road projects. City officials are also in the process of formalizing a newly-approved transportation development district expected to raise roughly $2.8 million annually for street projects. […]

The third and final 2024 Midwest Energy Policy Series was hosted by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1 at its St. Louis union hall on Dec. 12, 2024. The event by the Missouri Energy Initiative (MEI) focused on economic development and engaged more than 60 industry leaders, policymakers, and professionals to explore […]

From Spectrum News:  A proposal to transform approximately 500 acres in Festus into a mountain bike park was approved Thursday by the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission. Applicants Chris and Renee Creed of Festus are seeking to turn their 576 acres of land, located two miles south of Festus and Crystal City off Plattin […]

From The St. Louis American:  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Labor Job Corps Program leadership joined St. Louis Housing Authority in launching a Customer Assistance and Resident Engagement Center (CARE). “[We are] proud to partner with HUD in identifying residents ready to take the next step toward financial independence […]

“Where’s your coat?” asked Sylvester Taylor on a cold and windy day in 2004 to a child he was mentoring. “I don’t have one,” said the 12-year-old. That a basic need had gone unmet inspired Taylor to launch an annual coat by the organization he founded that same year – the IBEW Electrical Workers Minority […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  A $96 million expansion at City Foundry has opened, adding 270 apartments at the mixed-use development. Tenants have moved into One Foundry Way, a 14-story tower at 3835 Foundry Way in Midtown. The new tower is part of the second phase of development at City Foundry, a redevelopment of a […]

From St. Louis Public Radio:  A St. Louis developer is making a push to bring more retail activity to the heart of downtown. Oliver Properties has plans to develop roughly 9,000 square feet of the former Copia Restaurant & Wine Garden at 1122 Washington Ave. into a food hall with multiple tenants. The firm had […]

From Construction Dive:  President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose widespread tariffs when he takes office in January. For commercial builders and their clients, that could spell major price hikes. While much about the plan remains uncertain, industry leaders are already bracing for its potential impact. The scale of the tariffs — and how rigorously […]

From Stanford Social Innovation Review:  As of 2023, nearly 20 million people are employed by the government at the state and local level. State and local government employees play a significant role in supporting and uplifting their local communities by making a direct impact through the essential services they provide such as policing, engineering, maintenance, […]