Beautiful progress on Phase II of Kickapoo High School Auditorium & East Lobby
On November 5, 2015, Stephanie Bedinghaus, AIA was awarded the Rosebud Award for Outstanding Women in Construction 2015, presented by Soutwest MO NAWIC Chapter #366 at the annual Salute to Design and Construction Banquet.
Progress at East Cherry Flats on the SE Corner of Cherry Street & Kickapoo, Springfield, MO.
Our Lightning Rod Roller Coaster is coming right along! Watch a preview here:
Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative, Architecture and Interior Design, is very pleased to announce that Stephanie Bedinghaus has recently completed her registration exams and has officially received a Missouri Architectural License. Stephanie has been the project manager for many of the firm’s projects including some of downtown Springfield’s newest residential projects: Sky Eleven, The U, and Sterling Lofts.
The five-story former textile building at 621-623 River St. will be renamed Hudson Arthaus as part of a $19.4 million renovation that will include gallery space, art studios, computer programming labs, libraries and cultural displays.
The apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy in fall 2015.
The development team consists of The Vecino Group LLC and Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative, both of Springfield, Missouri; and 3TArchitects and UW Marx Construction, both of Troy.
Leasing agent Mike Fusek of Sperry Van Ness/Rankin Co. organized Chesterfield Lofts LLC to develop the 1920s-style lofts at Chesterfield Village on previously vacant land between Schultz & Dooley’s restaurant and the Roberts & Easley law firm. Fusek said there would be office and retail space on the first floor, 33 residential units divided among the middle three floors and a 6,000-square-foot fifth floor rooftop patio deck. Six commercial spaces – from 450 square feet to 1,800 square feet – are leasing for $14 per square foot. Fusek said the lofts, up to three bedrooms with prices starting at $795-$1,500 per month, feature walk-in showers, hardwood floors and access to SpringNet Internet.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -
Lost & Found is a local non-profit group that offers grief support services for those who are grieving the loss of a family member or a primary caregiver. Its support groups offer services for family members of all ages, in a unique environment where people can be around those going through similar journeys.
Lost & Found is serving more people than ever before, especially as crime rates in the area rise and families of victims seek support. Lost & Found ran out of room in its current office, so it's moving to a space at 1555 S. Glenstone Ave., in the former Jones & Co. Realtors building, across the street from Car-Fi and Cartoons Oyster Bar & Grill.
The new space will let Lost & Found more than double the amount of groups it can offer.
"It allows us to provide multiple age groups on the same night, which is a great service for families that are driving a long distance to come to our groups," said executive director Karen Scott. "It provides us greater visibility. We're so excited about that. The community has been unbelievable generous, so we've almost reached our goal of raising a little over $2 million, work has started and we hope to be in the building by October."
All the organization's services are provided for free, so its staff raises money throughout the year so it can keep providing those services to families. One of the biggest ways for them to do that, and to offer support to families at the same time, is their annual Memorial Event.
The event will be in its sixth year this year, but it will be coming with some changes.
In the past, the event has been a balloon release, where friends and family wrote their loved ones names on balloons and sent them into the sky.
Environmental concerns caused Lost & Found to regroup and reorganize, so the event this year will instead plant a garden of silk tulips in Nathaniel Greene Park's botanical garden.
Even though the details have changed, the goal is the same. Lost & Found hopes that anyone grieving the loss of a loved one can break away from the feeling of loneliness that often comes with grief, and find support in those going through a similar situation.
"It's a very public way to say someone I loved is gone and they really mattered to me, and so it allows them to come together as a group and remember those people," Dr. Scott said. "Our focus for the program is on the healthy grieving, coping skill of remembering and holding on to happy memories."
As part of their increased services, Lost & Found is now partnering with Mid-America Transplant Services in St. Louis to offer support to families of organ and tissue donors.
Most of the tulips in the garden Tuesday will be purple, but families of organ donors will be given a red tulip to honor their loved one.
Flower pick-up and sales begin at 5:30 on Tuesday, with the garden dedication program starting at 6:15 and the 5K Run/One mile walk kicking off at 7 p.m.
You can purchase a flower in memory of someone and sign up for the run or walk through Monday morning by clicking here.
Copyright © 2015, KY3 News
As construction continues on Mercy's new children's hospital, the St. Jude Affiliate Clinic housed within the Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center on the first floor opened for business last May.
Plans for the St. Jude Clinic started in 2011 when the team of doctors and nurses who were busy helping their young patients fight their way back to being cancer-free started making a wish list for a brand new facility.
Back then, the children's cancer wing was a typical hospital setup. A nurse's desk doubled as the waiting room, and rows of treatment rooms housed kids and their families. It didn't take long for the medical team to recognize that changes needed to be made. The old setup wasn't the kind of cheerful environment these youngsters and needed. It was cold, sterile and gloomy.
In an effort to change things, a team of Mercy administrators, nurses, architects and planners toured Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
The team returned to Springfield with a list of ideas for Mercy's new children's cancer center. There were long talks between the nurses and the planners about bringing in bikes for the kids to ride, the importance of line of sight, how to keep rooms as sterile as possible, ways to lighten the atmosphere and much more. "Honestly, I really dreaded going on that trip," says Stephanie Bailey, the practice manager at the St. Jude affiliate clinic. "I thought it would be too depressing, but it wasn't. It was uplifting."
After months of planning and getting feedback from parents and patients about what they would like to have in the facility, the final product hardly resembles the rest of the hospital. The walls are colorful, with pictures of flowers and frogs that greet kids and their families. There's a living room setup with TVs, video games and everything a kid could want. Instead of creating a hospital, the nurses, planners and architects behind this project created a space where kids can be kids and forget, even if it's just for a little while, about the cancer they're battling.
Workspace
When architect Brian Kubik started work on the St. Jude Affiliate Clinic at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, he had an especially unique tie to the project. Kubik's son, Cross, had battled cancer, and Kubik and his family had spent a whole year actually living at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Kubik was able to bring a parent's perspective to the project and suggested creating a work space where parents could set up laptops and get work done while their kids were getting treatment, something that wasn't available in Memphis. The boat beds were another addition to the work area, so kids and their families could relax in a comfortable space that was also medically safe.
The Teen Room
The team wanted to create areas where kids of all ages could feel comfortable. The teen room is the perfect spot for older kids to get some time away from the youngsters, and the family room is the ideal spot for the whole family to unwind and play games. The family room was an idea architect Brian Kubik brought to the table. Cheryl Doran, a member of the Mercy planning, design and construction team who led the project, heard from parents that they wanted a space that felt like home, so Kubik decided to create a space modeled after the Grizzly House in Memphis where he and his family stayed while his son Cross was receiving treatment. "The Memphis Grizzly House was on the hospital campus and was a place where families could live," he explains. "There was a family room there, so we spent a lot of time there."
Colorful Walls
Everyone agreed that bright, welcoming colors were a must. "When a kid is sick, they want to stay in their room," Doran says. "But they won't get that social time that's so good for therapy. So in order to get them out of the treatment rooms and out with the other kids, we painted the rooms white." The rest of the clinic is coated in bright blues and greens, and interactive games and activities are spread throughout.
Line of Sight
When designing the center's layout, it was important to create an open line of sight so nurses could see the patients at all times. "There are no walls that are barriers," says Doran. The walls that are up are clear, so patients can feel like they can get away while still being under the watchful eye of a nurse.
Space Planning
As the nurses and planners worked together on the planning of the clinic, they had to come up with a way to keep the kids and their families secure in the clinic while still making the clinic accessible to other hospital staff including the laundry service. The main concern was coming up with a way to prevent the spread of bacteria and disease. The solution is a series of hallways (below) that connect the clinic to the rest of the children's hospital but that don't lead into the clinic's main room where the children are playing.
Andy's Frozen Custard storefronts are all glass so customers can watch the frozen custard being made in giant stainless steel machines. There is no indoor seating, with customers either making purchases from walk-up windows or a drive-thru.
By Peggie Evans
Round Rock Leader contributing writer
Round Rock has been selected as the first location in Central Texas for Andy's Frozen Custard, a popular Missouri-based family restaurant whose main offering is the frozen treat.
Andy's stand-alone store is under construction and is scheduled to open in November at its location on A.W. Grimes Boulevard near Palm Valley Boulevard, in the shopping center where an H-E-B is located. It will employ about 40 people.
The Round Rock restaurant is the first of as many as 20 or more Andy's planned for the region, said Chris Plumbe, who owns the Andy's franchise for Central Texas. The area's second Andy's is planned for Pflugerville at Stone Hill Town Center, and a search is underway for a site for another Andy's in Round Rock, Plumbe said.
The restaurant's frozen custard is made throughout the day onsite, with no custard sold that is more than an hour old, said Plumbe, with its freshness part of the appeal of the premium frozen treat.
"There is nothing like us here," said Plumbe of the restaurant, who expects Andy's to gain the same popularity with families in Round Rock as it has in Missouri and elsewhere its restaurants operate.
Andy's Frozen Custard was started in 1986 as a small family business in Osage Beach, MO by John and Carol Kuntz, who named their small restaurant after their young son. Today Andy's is based in Springfield, Mo., and has restaurants across Missouri and franchises in a few other states. And Andy Kuntz has grown up and is now the company's president.
Plumbe grew up in Springfield and is a former restaurant manager who worked in Austin with Cheddar's Casual Cafe. When he decided he wanted his own business and was looking for restaurant franchises, he recalled the deep fondness and loyalty his own family and others had for Andy's Frozen Custard, a place many families in Springfield turned to celebrate after ballgames, good report cards and other family occasions.
He bought an Andy's franchise and decided Round Rock would be a good place to start his business because of the city's rapid growth, affluency, and good school system that attracts families, he said.
The restaurant's frozen custard is made with eggs and has a smoother, creamier texture than ice cream and has less air whipped into it, Plumbe said, and comes in two flavors, vanilla and chocolate. It sells cones, sundaes, floats and other treats.
It also sells baked goods baked fresh daily in its restaurants, like brownies and pies, including seasonal offerings like pumpkin and strawberry pies.
All of Andy's restaurants are stand-alone buildings whose storefronts are all glass so customers can watch the frozen custard being made in giant stainless steel machines. There is no indoor seating, with customers either making purchases from walk-up windows or a drive-thru. The restaurant's outdoor patio provides seating.
Andy's Frozen Custard franchises see community involvement as an important part of its operations. It donates frozen custard that it cannot sell within the first hour it’s made to schools and community organizations, Plumbe said, many of which resell the product for their fundraisers.
Andy's is one of a number of new restaurants that have located to Round Rock in the past year, said Mike Odom, Round Rock Chamber of Commerce president. Many of them are new types of restaurants unlike anything Round Rock has had previously, such as Andy's, he said, drawn here by the city's growth, ease of doing business and other factors.
"The growth is across the city," Odom said.
Theme parks keep adding roller coasters, but the key to a thrilling ride hasn't changed, says Paul Ruben, North American editor of the trade publication Park World. "What makes a good coaster? In one word: pacing," he says. "It should be one adrenaline rush after another. There should never be a dull moment." Ruben, who has been riding coasters for decades, shares his favorite rides with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.
Bizarro at Six Flags New England
Agawam, Mass.
There's a reason this big steel coaster is near the top of every fan's list. "It's non-stop action from beginning to end," Ruben says. "You're off the seat so often that the seats seem superfluous." Even the minimalist design of the coaster cars adds to the experience, he says. "There's no side wall to the trains. There's nothing to protect you. You feel very vulnerable through the entire ride, which adds to the thrill." 413-786-9300;sixflags.com/newengland
Tip: If you want a really wild ride, sit in the back. "You get the whip action as you go around the curves. The side thrusts are superior."
Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City
Branson, Mo.
Ruben describes this as a new, rare, hybrid wood coaster using curved steel beams instead of traditional tracks. "It makes for a very smooth ride, and it turns the rider upside down twice." He also likes the quick pacing. "Things are happening faster than you can set up for them. You go through a loop, and before you realize it, you start to do something else. When you get to the end, you say 'What just happened?'" 800-888-7277; silverdollarcity.com
Tip: Try Fire in the Hole, a 42-year-old indoor coaster with a story. "It's supposed to be running through a mine and you have to get out before an explosion."
Millennium Force at Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio
This ride, topping out near 93 mph, is all about speed. "It's fast, fast, fast. You're racing through the entire ride," Ruben says. "Fortunately, you're lashed into the seat, and the train is lashed onto the track. Every turn seems too quick, but somehow, it all stays together." The ride is accentuated by the sweeping Lake Erie views from the top of the lift hill. "You get a blast of wind in your face that lasts the whole time." 419-627-2350;cedarpoint.com
Tip: Get there early as a queue forms quickly. "They have a lot of coasters at Cedar Point, but this one has the longest line."
PHOTO GALLERY: Roller coasters of Cedar Point
X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Valencia, Calif.
This unusual coaster has two sets of track, one for the train and one that controls the seat. "As you go through the ride, the position of your seat varies, offering unexpected thrills. When you plunge down the first drop, you're going face-first down the hill. As the train goes through a loop, the seat rotates so you're always sitting up, and as you exit the loop, you suddenly do a back flip," Ruben says. "I call it a tumbling coaster. It's the only ride of its kind in North America." 661-255-4100; sixflags.com/magicmountain
Tip: Sit on the outside. "There's no track beneath you and you have a sense of flying."
Thunderbolt at Kennywood
West Mifflin, Pa.
This Pittsburgh-area ride is unlike any other wooden coaster. "Things happen in reverse order," Ruben says. "You immediately drop into a ravine. The lift hill is in the middle, and the most fierce drop is at the end. It's like the coaster was built backwards." 412-461-0500; kennywood.com
Tip: Be sure to ride all the park's coasters. "They're all distinct and have their own personalities. This is a classic, traditional park that has kept up with the times."
The Beast at Kings Island
Kings Island, Ohio
The world's longest wooden coaster, stretching 7,400 feet, is also the world's longest-lasting coaster, offering a ride that clocks in at three minutes, 40 seconds. "It's a wonderful coaster. It's so long, it actually has two lift hills," Ruben says. During part of the ride, the coaster zooms through a forest. "People in the park can't see the Beast, but they can hear the screams." 513-754-5700; visitkingsisland.com
Tip: After riding the Beast, stroll across the midway to the Banshee. "It's a very nice ride, the world's longest inverted looping coaster."
Alpine Coaster at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Glenwood Springs, Colo.
Unlike more familiar coasters, this is a sled ride that zooms down a hill. But Ruben considers it a roller coaster because "it runs on a track, and it's powered by gravity." It's reminiscent of the first roller coasters, which were developed 400 years ago in Russia as rides down wood-supported hills. But on this ride, visitors sit on a sled and can control their speed as they zoom down a mountain. 800-530-1635;glenwoodcaverns.com
Tip: Ignore the hand brakes and descend as fast as you can. "You're strapped to the sled, and the sled is fastened to the tracks; you're not going to go anywhere."
Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride at Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
While it's usually the kiss of death to call a coaster family-friendly, Ruben says, this new ride anchoring the redesigned Fantasyland offers thrills and incredible audio animatronic theming, making it entertaining on many levels. It's a new-style coaster, he says. "The seats are mounted on pivots, and as the train goes through curves, the G-forces go straight down through the seat of your pants. It's smooth, yet it's thrilling. You get off the ride and you're humming 'Heigh-ho, heigh-ho.'" 407-939-5277;disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/magic-kingdom
Tip: As you pass the house at the end of the ride, look carefully. "You'll see the Wicked Witch and her apple for Snow White. She's lurking just outside the house."
DISNEY WORLD: The best rides and attractions
Wildcat at Hersheypark
Hershey, Pa.
This wooden coaster takes advantage of the topography, keeping up its speed as it progresses down a hill. "It's non-stop action from beginning to end. There are lots of moments of negative gravity, and the pacing is beautifully done," Ruben says. 717-534-3860; hersheypark.com
Tip: When you leave the park, stop at the free-admission Hershey's Chocolate World, devoted to the town's number one product. "They have a ride you take to show you how chocolate is made and they have a little chocolate-themed 3D movie."
Cyclone at Luna Park
Coney Island, N.Y.
One of the country's most iconic coasters has been renovated, making for a much smoother ride. "This is the classic coaster against which all others are compared. It has been around since 1927, and so many people have ridden it over the years," Ruben says. And while the area was once seedy, it has been cleaned up. "It looks great. People are coming back. There's a renaissance at Coney Island. 718-373-5862;lunaparknyc.com
Tip: Ride Thunderbolt, which opened in June, making it the first major new coaster in Coney Island in nearly a century. "The first drop is 90 degrees, straight down."
via USA Today
The designs are part of the city's effort to receive a grant, to fund the project through the Skaggs Foundation. "That's part of the life is the rock," says former student Laura Lewallen, referring to the exterior of the old school building and how it’s incorporated into the new design. "My grandchildren and I were just kind of driving around and I said, ‘your nan, and your grandma and your grandpa and on down the line, went to school here,'" says Lewallen. "I've got a lot of school memories here, a lot of school memories." The setting for those memories is worn down now. Decades worth of service as a Works Progress Association building, a school, city storage, and later being closed has taken a toll. "If we're successful in obtaining the funding we're hoping that we get, it's going to be a Godsend for us," says Reeds Spring Alderman and former student, Rob Chamberlin. "Everything in the front, as you see it will stay the same," says Chamberlin referring to the new design plans. "But in the back, we'll have a kitchen facility, we'll have a Head Start." Plans for the roughly $1.7 million project would also incorporate a commons area, and would have offices for various health organizations. "Maybe a dentist that comes in two or three days a week," says the Aldermen. The old gym floor will have to be replaced, but the pine paneling on the walls will be refurbished and reused in the new gym. "There's beautiful hardwood floors underneath that carpet," Chamberlin says, referring to the floor in the school house. "That's coming up too." If the City receives the necessary funds, the project is expected to take roughly 18-24 months to complete - preserving decades worth of memories in the process. "So when people come in here, the will be like, I'm home." Says Chamberlin. "That really excites me, because this was part of Reed (Springs)," says Laura Lewallen. City leaders say if they don't receive the necessary funding for the project they have set up a donation account with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The city will also continue to collect funds though area events like Cajun Days. The City should get an answer regarding the Skaggs Foundation grant in November, 2014. via OzarksFirst.com
Greene County Morgue is now open
A long awaited county morgue is now open — paving the way for quicker death investigations, officials say.
County leaders unveiled the finished $2.7 million building Thursday. The morgue is on Campbell Avenue, just south of the Public Safety Center.
No longer will autopsies for those who die in Greene County have to routinely be done in Columbia where the county has contracted Medical Examiner services. That has sometimes slowed down crime investigations and inconvenienced families of the deceased.
Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams said, "For the last few years, that has been a very cumbersome process."
Greene County conducted 230 autopsies last year said Jim Viebrock, Greene County Presiding Commissioner.
Commissioner Harold Bengsch called the morgue "state of the art."
In April, Chris Coulter, director of resource management for Greene County, said county officials were looking forward to having members of the University of Missouri's medical examiner staff working and living in the community.
Coulter said the county planned to lease the facility to the university, which will have a medical examiner working on site.
The county will also continue to contract with Springfield Mortuary on transporting bodies for autopsies.
Officials have said the morgue will start out with a cooler, autopsy room, evidence room, law enforcement observing area, family viewing area and offices. There is space that will eventually be used for X-ray or CT scans, a decomposition cooler, a cytology lab and space for two additional autopsy tables, but those features don't fit in the current budget for the facility.
There's also space to the north and west of the building that can be used for an eventual expansion.
The project was financed by a $23 million bond issue in 2010 that also covered construction of the Public Safety Center, which houses the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management, the 911 communications center and the Greene County Sheriff's Office training division.
via News-Leader.com
Next time you visit Silver Dollar City bring your appetite for adventure to the all-NEW Crossroads Pizza! Each pizza is hand-crafted using only fresh ingredients, including dough made daily, and baked in a state-of-the-art stone hearth oven. In addition to delicious pizza, you'll find sub sandwiches, calzones and more. Be sure to stop by before or after you test your grit on the world's most daring wood coaster - Outlaw Run!
Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative has acquired the engineering and architecture firm of Pellham Phillips Architects and Engineers
The acquisition adds additional in-house, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services to the full service commercial and residential architecture and interior design firm.
Pellham Phillips will retain its 34 year old name and operate as an Architectural Engineering company. Larry Phillips, PE, founder of the company, will also continue as Managing Principal of Engineering for the firm. This division of Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative will employ Engineer, Kevin Conway, PE and Design Visualization Speciallist, James Couch. Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative will employ Architects, Phil Young, AIA and John Luce, AIA. The firms will be located together on Bradford Parkway in south Springfield.