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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Harlingen
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 3
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Number 3
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MARCH 2016
Time for a move
Up and coming
A ribbon cutting was held in January to mark the move into the new offices.
L-R: Alex Gonzalez, intern architect; Fernanda Aragon, project manager; Sam Garcia, AIA – principal; Jean Gearhart, director of operations
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fter 43 years in the same building, D. Wilson Construction Co. in McAllen has moved into a new facility right next door – and gained almost 4,000 sf of space. “We’d been in the same building since 1973 and had basically outgrown it,” says CFO Tim Mickunas. “We were piled on top of one another and simply needed more space to serve a growing business.” The company that was founded in 1957 by Darrell Wilson and is now run by his son, President/CEO Bill Wilson, was formerly located at 1209 Pecan St. and owned the property at 1207 Pecan St., which was a retail storefront with a warehouse in the back. The entire building was taken down to the bare walls and renovated into the new offices. The old
space was 3,700 sf and the new space is 7,500 sf. “It was early in 2009 when we sat down with all the employees and talked about building a new office,” Mickunas says. “At the time we agreed to move forward was also the time the economy turned down. The plan to move had to be put on hold for a few years due to the recession. It was last summer when we finally got to do the construction and it took about four months.” With up to 25 employees working in the office, architect Boultinghouse, Simpson & Gates came up with a floor plan that improved the flow of traffic and made work conditions much more efficient, Mickunas says. continued on Page 10
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n 2013, Sam Garcia launched Sam Garcia Architect LLC in McAllen from his kitchen table. “It is a complete startup company that originated on the kitchen table,” Garcia says. “We currently have a staff of four with an office on the second highest floor in the tallest building in the Rio Grande Valley.” The philosophy toward customers and employees alike has likely contributed to the company’s successful growth rate of a 50 percent increase in revenue from year to year. “Our philosophy towards customers is to provide first-rate services as a visionary architecture studio and development think-tank,” Garcia explains. “We aim to take our customers' best ideas and expand upon them in ways that create tre-
mendous value for their operations. We remove our ego from the equation as much as possible and try to truly listen to our customers.” Employees are viewed as his greatest resource. “I have the utmost respect for them and their professional capabilities,” he says. “My view is that the people that work for me are adults - and should therefore be given the latitude to complete their work with general guidance and without micromanagement. “I place a great deal of trust in my employees and they take their work seriously. I prefer for an employee to be self motivated and confident enough to make decisions without relying on me for every tiny detail.” continued on Page 10
America’s largest cross coming to Corpus Christi
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he congregation of Abundant Life Fellowship Church in Corpus Christi, led by Pastor Rick Milby and Family Pastor Danny Isom, has an ambitious construction project underway. They plan to build the tallest cross in the Americas – the Corpus Christi Cross. According to Isom, who is Milby’s son-in-law, the family often vacations together in the summer. As the group drove towards Galveston a few years ago, they spotted something that took their breath away – the 198-ft tall cross at Sagemont Baptist Church in Houston. “We had multiple emotions,” Isom says. “It seems that today we are so removed from God in every facet of life. When you see something like that, it really encourages you. We all began to talk it through. We thought how neat it would be to build one in Corpus Christi – which means ‘the body of Christ.’” The church has the perfect spot for
City Council Member Lucy Rubio, City Council Member Carolyn Vaughn, Nueces County Commissioner Mike Pusley, Radio Talk Show Host Bob Jones, Nueces County Commissioner Brent Chesney, Congressman Blake Farenthold, Corpus Christi Mayor Nelda Martinez, Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin and Pastor Rick Milby.
its cross, which they plan will be 210-ft tall. A 6.5-acre piece of land had been donated to the church a number of years ago. The land is on I-37 in between Carbon Plant and Rand Morgan roads. It’s literally where most people, either by vehicle or air, pass by as they come into Corpus Christi. “We think God had a hand in all of this,” Isom said. “It’s taken about three years of discussion, prayer and dreaming. The cross just began to grow in our meetings.” According to Isom, project leaders discovered there is not a great difference in procedure from building the cross to 180-ft to taking it up from there. So, they settled on 210-ft high, with a crossbeam that will be 95-ft wide. The project, which had its groundbreaking on Jan. 31, is expected to cost $1 million. The foundation alone will cost continued on Page 10