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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper Freight Station, Harlingen
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 3
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Number 5
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MAY 2016
New day, new digs
Steel style
Turner/Ramirez Architects is enjoying a lighter, fresher feeling at the new office space.
RSS employees Roxanne Gonzalez, Justin Vorhees, Becky Freeman, Sandra Gonzalez and Cheryl Andrews greet customers looking for rebar and concrete construction products in Corpus Christi.
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ack Rice Turner founded Turner/ Ramirez Architects in Corpus Christi in 1958, but in 2015-2016 the firm made some major changes. Although Turner is still involved in the firm, partner Philip Ramirez assumed sole proprietorship in 2015 and the office recently moved into a new location. According to Kyle Miller, project architect, the firm moved to its new location in mid-February, after completely renovating an office space on Alameda St. “We removed the existing interior and took it down to the shell,” Miller says. The result is a light-filled, airy space with bright primary colors accentuating
the various work areas. There are eight employees, including Ramirez, Turner and Miller, Brian Bienek, project manager; Diego Martinez, project manager; and Christina Hunter, Jonathan Gonzalez and Joseph Mihoin, all interns. “We are growing our employee base because we are a growing firm,” Miller sasid. The new location is more efficient, Miller says, although the square footage stayed close to the same. “We design in a studio-type environment,” he says. “We all collaborate on projects. There is an abundance of natural light and the space is longer and more linear.” continued on Page 10
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heryl Andrews has been general manager at the Corpus Christi branch of RSS (Reinforcing Steel Supply) almost since it opened. The location opened in spring 2009 and Andrews was recruited and started work on Sept. 16, 2009. She has lived in Corpus Christi on and off since 1957 and built her career in similar industries. She says one of the things she likes about RSS is the family atmosphere and emphasis on teamwork. The Corpus Christi location has 12 employees. “We are all a team in this together,” she says. “We are like a big family. It’s a smaller company and we were the first branch. They gave me free rein to do
what I needed to do. I loved that.” Andrews says the people who work throughout the company are supportive and helpful. “It’s very nice to have a supportive headquarters to call on when I need help,” she said. “Since we have opened newer branches, we’ve all helped and nurtured those as well.” In the Corpus shop, which sells concrete forming accessories, sells and fabricates rebar and estimates and details, the crew is also a team with a family mentality. “We celebrate births and birthdays,” Andrews says. “We socialize after work continued on Page 10
For the public good
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t was a project that was many years in the making and finally came about as a collaborative and serendipitous melding of the needs of two different entities. KEDT, Corpus Christi’s public radio and TV stations, needed a new facility and Del Mar College needed state-ofthe-art technology for its students pursuing careers in radio and television. They joined forces to create a brand new station adjacent to the college. Teal Construction in Corpus Christi was the general contractor on the $5 million project that started in September 2014 and finished in December 2015. “A number of years ago we were comparing the future needs of the college and the station,” said Don Dunlap, general manager for KEDT. “We were in a lease situation and needed to get out of it. We have state-of-the-art technology that the college didn’t have. They had this piece of land they had no use for. It
The new facility is a joint effort between KEDT and Del Mar College.
was a win-win situation.” According to Dunlap, the college is charging KEDT $100 per year for the land
and also paid for the parking lot and its infrastructure – a move that saved KEDT about $1 million.
The station project was paid for through a capital campaign, which Dunlap is happy to report is about 90 percent complete. “We collaborated on the design to meet the needs of both organizations,” Dunlap says. “We will use the college students as interns.” Tom Gentry was project manager for Teal Construction. Project superintendent was Dusty Lacey. The new construction consisted of 15,000-sf of a suspended concrete foundation and a structural steel building. The exterior is metal wall panels, finished concrete wall, burnished brick façade trim work, and ACM panels with bright aluminum paneling around the top and front entrance. Inside, half the building is polished concrete floors and the rest is carpet. The continued on Page 10