SEPTEMBER 2021

GREAT HALL PROJECT — BRINGING LASTING JOBS TO DENVER!

Crews working on the center space of Level 5 as Phase 1 completion nears.

While building an improved and modernized terminal for the future of DEN, the Great Hall Project has brought immense economic stimulus along with it. With Phase 1 approaching completion by the end of 2021 and Phase 2 underway, this $770 million project continues to provide jobs for the airport and the Denver community.

The Great Hall Project provides a variety of jobs that cater to different skill sets and education levels, boosting the regional economy. These jobs can be categorized into three types:

Direct jobs employ those individuals working at DEN on the construction site building the Great Hall Project.
Indirect jobs are jobs that support construction, such as offsite suppliers, construction management or administration.
Induced jobs are the jobs that directly benefit from the project, such as hospitality and vendors at the airport where project personnel and crews may spend time and money.

In addition to these areas of job creation, the project creates opportunities for Minority/ Woman-Owned Businesses and Disadvantaged and Small Business Enterprises. This also includes apprentices who can pick up new skills and accreditations for use on other job sites.

Take a look at the economic benefits from Phase 1 of the Great Hall Project:

Direct jobs: estimated at 2,400
Indirect jobs: estimated at 200
Induced jobs: estimated at 500

TOTAL: estimated at 3,100

PHASE 2: BRINGING NEW ESCALATOR FROM LEVEL 6 TO LEVEL 4

Level 5 construction wall box where the future Level 6 to 4 escalator will be. Work continues on this piece during Phase 2 of the Great Hall Project.

You may have noticed with the opening of the newly renovated space on Level 5 in the arrivals area of the Jeppesen Terminal, some construction walls to the north of the train exits remain in place. These construction walls will allow crews to construct an escalator from Level 6 to the train platform on Level 4. This escalator will take passengers down to the train platform after they have passed through the new TSA security checkpoint on Level 6.

The construction and installation of the new escalator will take place in Phase 2 of the project. This work will impact Levels 4, 5 and 6. In the future, passengers will see impacts on the Level 4 departures platform where additional construction walls will be installed while crews work in the ceiling above to prepare for installation of the escalator.

The new security checkpoint and escalator will be operational in early 2024.

Please visit the Great Hall Project page for updates on construction and updated maps to assist in locating where construction is taking place in the terminal!

PROJECT UPDATES: PHASE 1 DRAWS CLOSER TO THE FINISH LINE AS PHASE 2 MAKES STEADY PROGRESS

As Phase 1 of the Great Hall Project reaches completion and Phase 2 undergoes the first stages of construction, progress is taking significant shape in the Jeppesen Terminal!

Phase 1

Crews have been completing work on Level 5 along the baggage claim areas on both the east and west sides of the terminal. As work is completed in the vestibule areas, construction walls are being removed, giving back more space for passengers to move through the corridor. As work continues, passengers will see construction walls coming down to reveal newly finished areas while new walls are going up around other vestibules that are undergoing finishing touches.

Construction walls installed around Vestibule 506 on Level 5, west side.

Vestibule 509 on Level 5, east side opened for Phase 1.

New restrooms are taking shape on Level 5 on the east side where brand new women’s and men’s restrooms will open upon completion of Phase 1. Crews are also completing the south side of the arrivals area to replicate what was revealed on the north end earlier this year. Currently, new flooring is being installed.

Progress on the newly constructed restrooms on

Level 5, east side.

Level 5, south side of arrivals area.

Phase 2

Construction walls have been installed on both Level 5 and Level 6 in the northwest area of the Jeppesen Terminal. On Level 6, crews have begun the demolition process on the tenant spaces that previously occupied the balcony area overlooking the north security checkpoint. This space will be home to the new security checkpoint, opening early in 2024.

Construction walls have also been installed on Level 5 in the northwest area. Activities in this space will enable the balcony extension on Level 6 to increase floor space and will include the demolition of the old escalators on both ends of the north security checkpoint.

Level 6, west side, space for new security checkpoint in previously occupied tenant space.

Level 5, west side, construction area where old escalators will be removed to make space for balcony extension above on Level 6.

LOCAL FIRM SPOTLIGHT: CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY SERVICES

Husband-and-wife duo Lycia and Justin Scott started Construction Supply Services, LLC (CSS) in 2012 in the mudroom of their home. Originally an MWBE broker, Lycia started this company as a third party that ordered materials for other companies or individuals. Now, CSS has grown into a 3,000-square-foot warehouse where three full-time employees and two part-time employees do everything from supplying materials to storing large equipment for many prominent projects across Denver and Colorado, including the Great Hall Project at DEN.

The Scotts and their team have been with the Great Hall Project since Hensel Phelps brought them to the team in November 2019. CSS started by procuring startup kits for the field engineers, safety kits, and a vast majority of the small supplies and hand tools used on the project. Recently, Lycia says, they have had the opportunity to assist with some of the more tricky, one-off requests, like finding a very specific screw needed on the project.

Overall, Lycia says, working on the Great Hall has been an overwhelming joy.

“There hasn't been just one positive from this project. I enjoy learning and being challenged, and this project has done just that. This project has really made us use all of our sources to find exactly what was needed. Like the screw I mentioned before, it wasn't as simple as looking in our bin. (The screw) was over 20 years old. It took research, making some calls, a day of digging, and calling up some of the original contractors at DEN before we came up with the answer. My dad was one of the original pipefitters for DEN when it was built in 1995. That took me down memory lane.”

She went on to explain how invaluable the relationships she and her team have built on the project are by expressing, “besides building a relationship with Hensel Phelps, whom we had never worked with before 2019, we have a close connection with the teams on this project. We have gotten to know many of them, and they are like our extended family/co-workers with updates about their puppy or weekend plans that make it feel like we are co-workers and not just their material supplier.”

CSS’s work on the Great Hall Project does not stop with Phase 1. CSS will join Trautman and Shreve on Phase 2 of the project working on the mechanical side with Hensel Phelps once again.

It comes as no surprise that Lycia and her team fit right in at DEN. Her father was a part of one of the original crews at the airport when it was being constructed. She says that getting to follow in her father’s footsteps has made her smile. Even more special is knowing how beneficial all the work happening at the airport is for Colorado residents and travelers who will land at DEN and think, “this is a good-looking airport.”

CSS has worked on some other prominent projects in Colorado, such as the Gross Reservoir project and the National Western Complex Central Utility Plant, and with major partners such as Denver Water, Global Diving and US Engineering.

There is a saying around the CSS office, “provide superior service.” Something so simple but is taken to great lengths by the Scotts and their team as they see each project, contractor and request equally as important as the next.

"We want every single person to feel important," Lycia said, adding her gratitude for all projects - large and small - along with the CEOs and project managers they've worked with over the years. "We wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them."

Lycia was eager to share some advice for other small MWBE, DBE and SBE firms. She says to “have an open mind and plan on long hours and late days.”

Next time you are observing crews working in the Jeppesen Terminal on the Great Hall Project, you will know that all the tools that crews are using were likely supplied by Construction Supply Services, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without them!

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM SUCCESS:

SCOTT GUTHMANN, US ENGINEERING

With the right craftmanship, a piece of sheet metal can turn into a world-class traveling experience. Just ask Scott Guthmann, sheet metal apprentice for US Engineering.

Guthmann, a commercial HVAC Fabrication and Installation Technician for the DEN Great Hall Project, is one of eight current apprentices getting on-the-job training at DEN as part of the City and County of Denver’s Registered Apprenticeship Program. So far, he has gained 7,200 hours of a paid internship. When he completes the program early next year, he’ll earn a full-time position at US Engineering – a sub to General Contractor Hensel Phelps. They provide competitive pay, health benefits, retirement, and up to 53 hours of college credit toward an associate’s degree from Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver.

“A mere 22% of people who get college degrees in Colorado end up using their degree to find employment that requires that degree,” said Guthmann, who began his apprenticeship with US Engineering in July 2020 after serving in the United States Air Force as an Avionics Instruments Systems Specialist and Flight Control Technician. “If you’re willing to work hard, you can skip college and choose the superior pay and benefits available to craft trade workers who are accepted into registered apprenticeship programs through a trade organization.”

Apprenticeship programs throughout the City and County of Denver help diversify the workforce and ensure everyone – regardless of background, education or economic status – benefits from the unprecedented investments the City and County of Denver is making into its infrastructure such as the Great Hall Project at DEN, National Western Center and Elevate Denver.

Guthmann starts his day at DEN around 6 a.m. with the US Engineering Sheet Metal team. They stretch, prepare for the day and get their work assignments. During their eight-hour shift, they are responsible for mobilizing tools, equipment and materials; reviewing plans, specifications and blueprints; and laying out, fabricating, assembling, and installing the ductwork that moves and conditions the air throughout the Great Hall Project. By the time their day ends at 2:30 p.m., Guthmann is hopeful DEN’s travelers haven’t noticed a thing.

“Passengers shouldn’t notice the system we’ve built,” he said. “They should just feel comfortable traveling throughout the airport.”

Guthmann and his co-workers are part of the SMART Local #9 Union, a labor union for sheet metal, air, rail and transportation workers. The local union’s members all live in Colorado and are part of the only trade that starts with a basic material (steel) and delivers a finished product. The entire sheet metal product is designed, fabricated, transported, installed, commissioned, tested and balanced by members of SMART Local #9.

During the pandemic, many of these craft workers became essential workers, so they have been able to find work, even in the toughest of times.

“I’ve been able to learn a valuable trade,” Guthmann said, adding there is a shortage of skilled workers in Colorado. “With the training and knowledge I’ve gained, I’ve stayed consistently busy during the pandemic. I’m really fortunate to be classified as an essential worker, so my worksite isn’t shut down and everyone laid off, like so many workers in other industries.”

With this education and experience, Guthmann looks forward to a bright future at DEN and throughout the state.

“US Engineering Construction and Hensel Phelps have remodeled the Great Hall for its customers by focusing on quality craftsmanship, functionality, design, safety and a world-class passenger experience,” he said. “The people of Denver really have a new cornerstone of our economy that they can be extremely proud of. I know I am.”

The road to becoming a journeyman challenges prospective industry professionals through both education and on-the-job training. To complete the apprenticeship program, each participant must:

Complete four years of work
Pass four years of classroom courses
Work 7,200 hours in a paid internship program

DEN GREAT HALL PROJECT IN THE NEWS!

DEN recently took Denver7 for a tour of both Phases 1 and 2 of the Great Hall Project! Check out the story that ran and get excited for the completion of Phase 1!

PHOTOS OF THE MONTH

Photo 1: Level 6, east side check-in area progress with space for new concessionaire, Photo 2: Level 5, south side of arrivals area flooring progress, Photo 3: Level 6, installation of new airline kiosks for baggage tagging, Photo 4: Level 5, progress on new restrooms in the baggage claim area.