By: E&P Staff Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City-based engineering, construction, environmental, and consulting services firm, announced it completed all work for The Kansas City Star's new downtown press pavilion. Covering two square blocks downtown, the facility will be formally dedicated on June 6.
The $199 million facility, an angular green glass box built on a brownfield site, helped spearhead downtown redevelopment. The design was meant to display the printing and automated warehousing operations at night to downtown passersby (E&P, Nov. 10, 2003).
The project was a result of a commitment to downtown revitalization by former owner Knight Ridder, which was sold to the McClatchy Co. before the project was completed.
The press hall's four KBA Commander presses are the German press maker's largest North American installation. The highly automated operation includes the storage and retrieval of inserts and newsprint. The loading and receiving dock is concealed in the building's center. All newsprint is received by truck. The press hall design challenged HVAC engineers to maintain high humidity levels without condensation or frost in winter, according to Burns & McDonnell.
Construction of the press pavilion was halted in October 2005 by the bankruptcy of The Austin Co., the original designer-builder. In November, Burns & McDonnell agreed to complete remaining work on the press pavilion after hiring 22 former employees of The Austin Co. Kansas City office, including Ted Beer, former vice president and the office's manager, and Fred Heid, press pavilion project manager. (So far this year, according to the company, Burns & McDonnell has added more than 200 employees, bringing its full-time work force to 2,209, of which approximately three-quarters work in the Kansas City area.)
Beer is a principal and leads Burns & McDonnell's new Media Facilities Group, which offers design and construction services to the newspaper and broadcast industries.
"Greg Graves, Burns & McDonnell's president, did not hesitate to jump into the messy legal situation and help The Star," Beer said in a statement. "There were over $4.5 million in liens filed because of the bankruptcy," added Heid. "Thirty subcontractor and supplier liens were renegotiated in order to maintain warranties and complete the work."
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