Foster Marketing opens new Lafayette office

Foster Marketing Communications recently held a grand opening for its new 4,500-sq-ft office building in Lafayette, La.

Clients, business associates and friends were treated to a tour of Foster Marketing’s new facility, as well as refreshments and a presentation on how the agency got its start.

Foster Marketing associates from the firm’s Lafayette and Houston offices were in attendance for the event and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Foster Marketing Communications is a 29-year-old business-to-business marketing, advertising and public relations firm. The firm serves clients internationally in the oil and gas industry from its offices.

GS&P wins Grand Iris Award from ACEC-TN

Gresham, Smith and Partners of Nashville, an architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm, recently received the Grand Iris Award at the 20th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards hosted by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Tennessee.

Presented to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District, GS&P’s design of the temporary pumping station expansion on 17th Street and London Avenue in New Orleans was awarded for its high degree of achievement, value and ingenuity.

The awards were announced at the annual ACEC-TN awards banquet in March.

As a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers made a promise to New Orleans to reinforce its levees and storm water pumping system to withstand a threshold Category 5 hurricane before the 2007 hurricane season. Under the direction of Weston Solutions Inc., GS&P helped them keep the promise.

Within eight months, the team designed and constructed two pumping stations capable of unmanned operation. The project confirmed that marine structures can be adapted to accommodate large pumps instead of a more typical concrete structure.

Walton selected for $182 million barracks project

Walton Construction of Harahan, La., has been awarded the contract for the $182 million Fort Polk barracks realignment renovation at Fort Polk, La. The company’s St. Louis and New Orleans offices will coordinate the renovation of 13 military housing barracks, as well as four central energy plants that will serve the new barracks and 57 other buildings on the base.

The project is seeking LEED-Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project architect is Orlando-based VOA Associates Inc.; the project will be overseen by the Fort Worth, Texas, division of the Department of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Completion is scheduled for October 2012.

Brice Building breaks ground on $100 million cancer center

Brice Building Co. of New Orleans recently broke ground on the $100 million Louisiana Cancer Research Center research facility in New Orleans.

The 250,000-sq-ft facility will be located on a 2-acre site between the LSU Health Sciences Center and Tulane University Health Sciences Center. Construction began in February and is scheduled to be complete in August 2011. Design services are being provided by RMJM Hillier Architecture.

The mission of the LCRC, a joint venture between LSU Health Sciences and Tulane Health Sciences, is to discover and develop innovative cancer therapies that lead to clinical treatment programs.

These programs will offer new opportunities for early detection, treatment and prevention of cancer. The facility will create more than 300 jobs and is the first major healthcare project in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Brice Building Co. is a regional general contractor, design-builder and construction management firm established in 1931. Brice specializes in healthcare, industrial, commercial and institutional construction.

GBRIA announces 2009 board of directors

The Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance Inc., a trade association made up of more than 60 petrochemical, energy, paper, non-ferrous metals and liquid storage terminal companies, which works to improve industrial safety, workforce education and community awareness of industry, recently announced its 2009 board of directors:

Officers include Marcus Lewis, Rhodia Inc., chair; Mike Cohen, BASF, vice-chair; Rich Bedell, Marathon Petroleum, secretary/treasurer; members-at-large include Sharon Cole, The Dow Chemical Co., Les Dupre, Air Liquide, Paul Guilfoyle, ExxonMobil, Joey Hagmann, Placid Refining, John Pacillo, INEOS Fluor, Eric Phillips, Rubicon, LLC, Kelly Serio, Formosa Plastics, and Bill Wuensche, ALON Energy.