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White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Kansas City, MO, USA

Update on Three Rivers Park Children's Play & Discovery Center

There is no relief in sight to the escalating cost of new construction. The U.S. Bureau of Labor reported new construction costs have increased 8.9% during the year ending July 2006. The costs have escalated another 5% since then. Many projects are being held up due to rising construction costs as clients scrambled to find ways to value engineer projects or raise additional capital.

Our company completed the design of a 22,600-square-foot children's edutainment center for the Lake County Indiana Parks Department (www.lakecountyparks.com/ ) in late 2005. The construction bids were much higher than costs originally estimated, basically due to construction cost increases since the feasibility study in late 2003. By changing from a general contractor to construction management and by doing some of the work with in-house staff, Lake County Parks was able to reduce costs enough to proceed. The center is now under construction and is projected to open in early 2008.

The center incorporates many "green" building features, including a design with full daylight harvesting -- natural light throughout the facility. This means during the daytime, no electric lights will be required, except for in a few closets, restrooms and parts of the kitchen. This will result in a significant energy savings, or as is termed today, a lower carbon footprint.

The mascot for the center will be an endangered Indiana bat. The center and its mascot will be named BellaBoo's.

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