Page 26 - Colorado Construction & Design Magazine - Spring 2023

United States Air Force Academy Visitor Center Tops Out
A topping out ceremony was held for the new United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Visitor Center. Project teams and representatives from the Air Force Academy signed a steel beam before it was placed at the top of the structure, symbolically indicating the completion of the structural components of the project.
The new USAFA Visitor Center, located outside the gates of the academy, will replace the existing visitor center inside the base. The center will be 34,000-square-feet, inclusive of a level one mezzanine and level two core and shell build out, and mimics an airplane taking off
for flight. Construction of the award-winning design by Fentress Architects includes a metal wall panel, curtain wall, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roof, and three metal panel roof systems.
The Visitor Center is part of a larger development of
the area outside of the Academy gates. This area will eventually be connected via an overhead pedestrian bridge to the Hotel and Convention Center. The center will illustrate a day in the life of cadets, tracing their journey from in-processing day through major academy milestones to graduation and commissioning as officers in either the Air Force or Space Force.
Project Updates
W.E. O’Neil Tops Out Vine at Panorama in Denver
W.E. O’Neil added the last beam on the Vine at Panorama project, completing its structure on time. Building a
new project on a site surrounded by busy streets, office buildings, and other close neighbors is nothing new for W.E. O’Neil,
and when logistical challenges present themselves, their teams are ready with solutions. The team finished framing level one
ahead of schedule to store materials inside the building, keeping them safe and protected from the weather.
Getting creative, their trade partners used conex boxes (metal shipping containers) to store materials, helping to mitigate constant delivery schedules, and control offsite material storage.
With 19 weather days impacted their schedule, Interstate Construction provided crews of more than 30 people working until dusk and every Saturday between January and April. Steel Huggers went above and beyond, bringing in enough laborers to install corner unit steel for cantilevered balconies in one day instead of the original schedule, which suggested it would take three days per floor.
In December 2023, ColRich, Healy Advisors, Santulann Architects, and W.E. O’Neil will be able to celebrate the completion of this new, five-story residential building that will feature 104 for-rent units with a mix of studios, one- bedroom, and two-bedroom layouts.
Camp Pickle Coming to Centennial in 2024, Denver in 2025
Award-winning hospitality entrepreneur, Robert Thompson, announced that his company, Angevin & Co., will be opening the highly-anticipated new eatertainment concept, Camp Pickle. Camp Pickle is capitalizing on the nation’s fastest-growing sport, pickleball, by making
the game the centerpiece of the next-generation eatertainment destination. In addition to the popular paddle game, guests will be drawn to the award-winning restaurateur’s food and beverage program while trying
26 | Colorado Construction & Design
their hands at duckpin bowling and darts or reserving a private karaoke room across the sprawling 100,000 square feet of outdoor and 60,000 square feet of indoor space. The first Camp Pickle in Colorado will open in Centennial in 2024. The Fox Park Camp Pickle will be the first Denver location and is slated to open in 2025. Thompson and team are currently seeking a third location north of downtown Denver.
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