Wagstaff Crane Service and Sure Steel worked together on the installation of a pedestrian skybridge, one of many highlights on this latest dynamic phase at HCI. (photo courtesy Wagstaff Crane Service)
A New Hope
Stunning new $178 million Kathryn F. Kirk Center is the latest state-of-the-art facility on the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the U of U, the fifth phase of a glorious campus spanning the past quarter century. By Doug Fox
As has been common on virtually every phase of HCI over the years, contractors were challenged by a tight worksite on a bustling university campus. (photo courtesy Layton Construction)
By serving five states in the Mountain West region, the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) already provides care to the largest geographic region of any center in the United States. Its ability to care for those patients—and the 52,000+ new cancer diagnoses expected in the region this year alone—just improved substantially with the opening of the Kathryn F. Kirk Center for Comprehensive Cancer Care and Women's Cancers.
The new 10-story center—overall the fifth expansion phase on the HCI campus in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah—adds 225,000 SF and increases the institute's clinical care capability by 50%. The $178 million project adds 48 inpatient rooms, an entire floor dedicated to breast and gynecologic cancers, an operating room suite, an endoscopy center, a blood and marrow cancer treatment space, an expanded wellness and integrative health center, and an oncology faculty workspace.
Mary Beckerle, PhD, and CEO of the institute, said the opening of the Kirk Center is not only a significant milestone that greatly enhances the research and patient care organization's mission, but also specifically addresses the growing need for specialized cancer care and early detection services in the Mountain West, ensuring patients receive the best possible care.
"This expansion allows us to perform more sophisticated cancer surgeries and serve more patients effectively," Beckerle said. "Patients now have access to more than 325 innovative clinical trials, giving them the opportunity to explore cutting-edge treatments and therapies."
According to Lisa Whoolery Ramidan, Senior Principal at Salt Lake-based Architectural Nexus, the design firm that oversaw the project (and all five phases of the iconic campus), the goal of the new center is to capitalize on the HCI's previous success to further develop the facility and care for patients.
"The mission of the HCI is patient first, united effort, and excellence in all it does," Ramidan said. "The expansion will further enhance the ability to meet that mission to serve patients."

The project, which held its ribbon-cutting May 8 and began welcoming outpatient and inpatient appointments in June, appears well-positioned to accomplish all of that.
A Beacon on the Hill
Sandy-based Layton Construction provided general contractor duties for the project, which held its groundbreaking on Sept. 9, 2019, and reached substantial completion in April of this year.
One of the project's biggest challenges, Layton representatives said, had to be resolved right from the beginning and revolved around location logistics and site availability. With the new center's location planned to sit on the side of a mountain, up against a preserve, the site first had to be prepped with blasting and excavation—a time-consuming process. Complicating matters was the fact patient treatments and regular work continued in the campus' other four existing buildings.
"As with any healthcare project, it is our goal to work seamlessly with hospital operations," said Jim Faussett, Senior Superintendent for Layton Construction. "We excavated for approximately nine months and then blasted for eight months—all while prioritizing the facility's patients and staff."
Faussett said the crew specifically scheduled daily blasting at 5 p.m. to ensure linear accelerator procedures were complete for the day in case recalibration was needed. In addition, they learned that their presence, and the blasting, actually turned out to be a welcome distraction to patients rather than an annoyance.
"The director at Huntsman informed us on multiple occasions how patients enjoyed watching us work so much that they would schedule their infusion treatments during that specific time of day to watch the blasts," Faussett said.
Another construction and engineering challenge was erecting a double-decker bridge that needed to be set prior to building the Kathryn F. Kirk Center due to site access and schedule availability.
According to Jeff Miller, a Principal at Reaveley Engineers in Salt Lake City, the two-level patient transport bridge connects the existing cancer hospital (the Phase II expansion) with the new Kathryn F. Kirk Center.
"For the bridge to connect to the necessary circulation points, almost the entire length needed to extend over the roofs of the existing Phase II and Phase III buildings," Miller said. "The new loads imposed on the existing structure by the bridge needed to be supported with little to no interruption to the ongoing function of the existing hospital space. After working with the architectural team to study several options for configuring and supporting the bridge, a solution was developed to support the bridge on existing concrete walls at a stair core in Phase 2. This made it possible to perform all bridge construction above the roof levels of Phase II and III with no interruption to the operation of the existing hospital space."
Faussett also pointed to the challenge of setting the bridge.
"We brought in a 900-foot crane to give us better access to the area and ultimately decided to set the bridge at night to accommodate the clinic area beneath it," Faussett said. "An added component to the crane was that the manufacturer needed to upgrade the software to allow the crane to handle the picks. This crane and pick has been featured in multiple Liebherr articles because of the technicalities and complexities."
According to Ronnie Wagstaff, Project Manager for Murray-based Wagstaff Crane Service, the firm utilized a Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 to hoist the 175-ft., 125,000 lb. sky bridge into place, requiring tight precision by the operator, and a great team effort between WCS, Layton, and South Weber-based Sure Steel to ensure project safety on this massive lift.
"This was such a challenging and rewarding project to be involved with from start to finish," said Wagstaff. "We definitely enjoyed the challenges that were presented with the job site [...] it took a great team effort to get this bridge set."
With the Kirk Center being the institute's fifth construction phase, Ramidan said it was important for the new building to align with, complement and build upon the pre-established campus design aesthetic. The exterior design of the building includes a mixture of concrete, masonry, curtain wall and metal panel systems.
"The combination of groundface and chiselface concrete masonry gives a natural limestone appearance to blend with the natural landscape, and projects a strong and permanent presence," Ramidan said. "The curtain wall is a unitized system with custom champagne-colored frame that matches the existing hospital. A variety of low-E energy efficient glazing is used throughout the building, from fritted glazing at the main lobbies and waiting spaces to maximize daylighting while reducing glare to glazing with different visible light transmittance based on its orientation direction. Custom champagne-colored metal panel profiles provide architectural accents and trim throughout the building exterior."

Faussett noted that the building features 85,000 SF of metal panels and glass on the exterior, which, for perspective, is roughly equivalent to one and a half football fields. Also of note, the project used 1 acre of tile and 2,232 tons of steel.
Architectural Nexus’ team of architects and interior designers collaborated to produce another scintillating design, with stunning interior spaces meant to inspire hope within patients and their families. Nexus has been the architect on all five phases of Huntsman Cancer Institute, an impressive achievement spanning three decades. (photos courtesy Layton Construction)
Prioritizing Warm, Expansive Views
Substantial effort was undertaken to make the new center visually and aesthetically welcoming for patients and visitors alike.
"While the proximity of the mountains already creates a stunning backdrop to this impressive campus, this building stands out on its own with large quantities of glass and high-end finishes," said Todd Hardcastle, Construction Manager for Layton. "Rather than looking like a conventional hospital, the goal for Huntsman was to make patients feel more at home by prioritizing warmth and expansive views—more akin to a high-end hotel rather than a sterile facility."
Ramidan said the building's architecture, along with its elements, equipment and systems, was centered around promoting health and healing.
"The building site is immediately adjacent to the open federal lands, so every effort was made to provide views from the building and keep the building's occupants, especially patients, in contact with the natural environment," Ramidan said. "To further this concept, the design incorporates special central public spaces, in order to promote interaction with and views to the exterior mountains and valley.
"Outdoor spaces between buildings and the rooftop garden were designed with subtle barriers to create private spaces, while not feeling closed off, to give HCI employees and visitors places for respite, work breaks, and lunch," she added.
Something visitors will no doubt be inspired by the approximately 160 pieces of Native American art, representing the works of more than 25 indigenous peoples. These items include weavings, basketry, ceramics, jewelry, sculptures and carvings.
The extensive display of modern and contemporary art, said Beckerle, was made possible by Karen Huntsman, who along with her husband, Jon M. Huntsman, who established the Huntsman Cancer Institute in 1995 with a $100 million donation.
"The incorporation of American Indian art into the design is particularly noteworthy," said Beckerle. "Because Mrs. Huntsman made this gift of art so early in the process, the architects were able to design interior spaces to highlight the art in stunning ways with special cabinetry, mini-art displays between each inpatient room, and museum-quality glass cases."
Hardcastle said designers wanted the lobbies and waiting rooms to have a museum-quality vibe, rather than that of a typical hospital.
"These decisions were made with the patients in mind," he said. "They are the No. 1 priority, and we wanted to create a cancer center that made their visit and treatment as comfortable as possible.
Hardcastle said all the high-end finishes for the project were intended to create a home away from home for patients. These finishes included 21 tons of stone imported from India to the coffered wood ceilings and soft tones of custom woodwork throughout the facility.
'Everyone's Been Touched by Cancer'
The project's naming donors, Spencer and Kristen Kirk, bestowed the name of Spencer's mother, Kathryn Kirk, on the building. Beckerle said the Kirk family and many other donors were integral in the design process and the selection of the finishes, in harmony with the existing HCI buildings.
While noting that every project is special in its own right, those involved admitted that knowing this is not just a treatment facility but also a beacon of hope to those struggling with cancer, gave this one a little extra importance throughout.
"Everyone has been touched by cancer and there's no preparing for it when it hits," Hardcastle said. "Several of our own family members have had to receive care at this campus, and so there's a more personal connection when it comes to building a project like this and, ultimately, we want to build projects like this. […] For Huntsman in particular, we knew that this facility had been at capacity for a while, so there was a great deal of motivation among the team to get the project completed as soon as possible so more patients could receive care."
Faussett noted that his team met with donors on tours of the facility during construction and heard many stories of the excellent care their loved ones had received while at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. "It made it even more special to know that we were building a facility that will go on to treat and touch so many people."
Faussett related that a member of the Layton Construction team from another state was diagnosed with cancer and wasn't getting the care he needed at a facility where he lived.
"Thankfully, he was able to come up to the Huntsman Cancer Institute and find the care that he needed," Faussett said. "This instilled a new hope for him and his wife. He had to undergo a bone marrow transplant in the existing facility, and this brought everything close to home as we worked on the project and had bone marrow transplant patient rooms in our tower."
The Kathryn F. Kirk Center has wasted no time in getting up to speed in fulfilling its mission to help battle cancer.
"Every day, we are driven by a sense of purpose to eradicate cancer and deliver a cancer-free frontier," Beckerle said. "The major hospital expansion plays a crucial role in this mission by providing the resources and expertise needed to make this vision a reality."
New ParagraphKathryn F. Kirk Center at Huntsman Cancer Institute
Cost: $139.9 M
Delivery Method: CMAR
Stories/Levels: 10
Square Footage: 225,000
Design Team
Architect: Architectural Nexus
Civil Engineer: Psomas
Electrical Engineer: Spectrum Engineers
Mechanical Engineer: VBFA
Structural Engineer: Reaveley Engineers
Geotechnical Engineer: Atlas
Interior Design: Architectural Nexus
Construction Team
General Contractor: Layton Construction
Concrete: Layton Construction
Plumbing: Archer Mechanical
HVAC: Archer Mechanical; Western States Mechanical
Electrical: Copper Mountain Electrical
Masonry: IMS Masonry
Drywall: CSI Drywall
Painting: Grow Painting
Tile/Stone: Millcreek
Millwork: Masterpiece Millwork
Flooring: Spectra
Roofing: Superior Roofing
Exterior Glass/Curtain Wall: Steel Encounters
Interior Glass/Curtain Wall: Mollerup
Waterproofing: Guaranteed Waterproofing; Specialty Systems
Steel Fabrication: Sure Steel
Steel Erection: Sure Steel
Excavation: Reynolds Excavation
Demolition: Red Rock Demolition
Precast: IMS Masonry
Landscaping: Stratton & Bratt
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.
Nathan Goodrich
