Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center Boardwalk
Portage, AlaskaPROJECT SUMMARY
Client
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Situation
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) in Portage, Alaska, is a state-of-the-art sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, public education, and quality animal care. Within the 170-acre refuge is the Bear Education Awareness Research Sanctuary (BEARS), which serves to provide a safe, semi-wild enclosure for orphaned and injured bears, and to educate visitors. With more than a quarter of a million visitors every year, the non-profit depends on engaging, immersive exhibits to keep customers coming back. Where did the need for the boardwalk come from? Was there an existing structure that needed to be replaced? Was this a new need and how did it come about?
Challenge
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center discovered that the architect’s original design was beyond the client’s financial means and a new solution was needed.
The STG Solution
To reduce the cost, STG worked to simplify the design with the architect and provided in-kind labor and materials to the nonprofit in addition to performing the contracted pile driving, steel erection, and 600-foot custom safety rail fabrication. During construction, STG was sensitive to the concerns (which were what?) of the project’s many stakeholders, including the State of Alaska and individual private donors.
In addition to the boardwalk, STG also constructed a concrete sitting area during Phase II along with structural canopies for an education pavilion and design-built a scenic walkway along Turnagain Arm. Through the course of this project, excellent project and value management was a key factor in the success of the project. Through our quality assurance processes which includes evaluating site feasibility, identifying cost efficiencies with designers, consolidating schedules to reduce labor costs, and leveraging buying power with vendors, the STG team was able to make the boardwalk a reality, benefiting AWCC for years to
LOCATION MAPS
PROJECT PHOTOS
PROJECT SUMMARY
Client
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Situation
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) in Portage, Alaska, is a state-of-the-art sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, public education, and quality animal care. Within the 170-acre refuge is the Bear Education Awareness Research Sanctuary (BEARS), which serves to provide a safe, semi-wild enclosure for orphaned and injured bears, and to educate visitors. With more than a quarter of a million visitors every year, the non-profit depends on engaging, immersive exhibits to keep customers coming back. Where did the need for the boardwalk come from? Was there an existing structure that needed to be replaced? Was this a new need and how did it come about?
Challenge
During (what phase?), the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center discovered that the architect’s original design was beyond the client’s financial means and a new solution was needed.
The STG Solution
To reduce the cost, STG worked to simplify the design with the architect and provided in-kind labor and materials to the nonprofit in addition to performing the contracted pile driving, steel erection, and 600-foot custom safety rail fabrication. During construction, STG was sensitive to the concerns (which were what?) of the project’s many stakeholders, including the State of Alaska and individual private donors.
In addition to the boardwalk, STG also constructed a concrete sitting area during Phase II along with structural canopies for an education pavilion and design-built a scenic walkway along Turnagain Arm. Through the course of this project, excellent project and value management was a key factor in the success of the project. Through our quality assurance processes which includes evaluating site feasibility, identifying cost efficiencies with designers, consolidating schedules to reduce labor costs, and leveraging buying power with vendors, the STG team was able to make the boardwalk a reality, benefiting AWCC for years to
LOCATION MAPS