MIFFLINTOWN - Efficiency and functionality are themes that inspired a design proposed for the industrial arts addition scheduled at East Juniata High School.

Architect Jay Darkey presented the design Tuesday evening during a workshop held by the Juniata County School District Board of Directors. Darkey said the design was developed through recommendations and collaboration between district administration, teachers and professionals. The addition is part of district-wide updates and renovations approved by the school board in recent months.

The proposed addition is 12,150 square feet in size, expanding the current industrial arts building by 7,150 square feet.

The addition - which includes two classrooms, an agriculture education room, building trades shop and wood shop - is separated from the main school building by fire resistant barriers. Darkey said the protective construction saves the district added expense of installing a sprinkler system throughout the whole building due to current building requirements.

Darkey recommended a pitched roof on the building, which he said will last longer than the flat roof design on the rest of the school. The outer perimeter of the building features windows on all sides, set into a split-face block wall. The upper part of the building will be constructed of brick, and the lower portion of the wall will be a textured material to match the brick inlay, he said.

Two regular classrooms, 950 square feet each, will be included in the addition. Each classroom has a countertop to fit four to five computer work stations. Cabinets and storage space are included in the perimeter of each classroom.

All three shops included in the addition - agriculture, building trades and wood shop - have 14-by-14-foot overhead doors to allow for easy access and entry of equipment or construction of pieces for building projects. There is an overhead cover and concrete pad outside each garage door to extend work space for students. The agriculture shop also includes a concrete pad as a foundation for a greenhouse.

Within the addition is a shared welding area with five individual stations. The separate stations allow for specified ventilation, which will improve the efficiency of the work space. The shops also include shared dust collection, sinks and eye wash system.

The pitched roof allows for a mechanical platform above the classrooms and shops to store equipment. A stairway and entrance will be constructed from within an existing family and consumer science classroom.

Representatives from Reynolds Construction said the proposed design exceeds the school board's original budget for the project of $2,526,300. The addition is now estimated at $3,010,508, but representatives said there are some cost-cutting measures the board can use to reduce the estimate to $2,812,108. This includes the use of economy-size brick, the split-face wall design on the outside of the building, elimination of paint on indoor ceiling structures and shared equipment among classrooms.

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Construction on EJHS addition may start in June

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By: Khaled Khalaf

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KUCHING: Despite Kuching having a booming retail sector which has profusely developed over the last couple of years, the high influx of retail spaces have led to lower retail rent rates and property prices.

According to CH William Talhar Wong & Yeo Sdn Bhd (WTWY) in its Sarawak Property Bulletin, retail rents have not been able to attract the kind of rates commanded two years ago.

Owners have had to lower their rents below RM20 per square foot (psf) in order to secure new tenants or retain old ones, WTWY highlighted in its report.

It further added that retail property prices have also waned somewhat compared to recent years to less than RM2,000 psf with malls vying for the same retail tenants who have not been increasing in tandem with the rise in retail spaces.

In addition, WTWY highlighted that current occupancy has dropped to around 70 per cent to 75 per cent from more than 80 per cent, less than five years ago.

The market seems to be showing signs of saturation with occupancy rates anticipated to drop further in the next year or so, it opined in the report.

With four new shopping malls having opened in 2013 and a handful more under construction, WTWY believes that the retail sector does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Maintaining a competitive edge in terms of appeal, layout, design and size will be relevant for survival.

The booming retail sector continued to manifest itself in 2013 with the completion of malls in Kuching including ST3, City One, Eastern Mall and Summer Mall.

WTWY noted that while CityOne is a mega mall by Kuching standard, Summer Mall encompasses the whole concept of a one-stop center for Samarahan for shopping, leisure and entertainment.

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Retail sector in Kuching marred by lower rent rates, property prices

Scott Picard thought he had a sure thing in the fall when he moved back to the Roaring Fork Valley with his family and opened a restaurant at Willits Town Center. Four months later, it sure looks like he was right.

Picards Sure Thing restaurant draws a steady mix of retail clerks, construction workers and office folk during weekday lunches, and its a magnet for families with kids and couples out for an evening date.

Hes built the better burger and craft beer place purely by word of mouth and with high visibility in the Parkside building of bustling Willits. Sure Thing is a few doors down from Starbucks.

Picard provides proof that a person can succeed when they switch directions in a career and pursue their passion. He started his working career as a bus boy at a long-gone Aspen restaurant in the early 1980s. A love of skiing lured him to High Alpine restaurant, where George and Gwyn Gordon recognized his talents as a barker the person who collects orders from customers and barks them out to the cooks. It takes a certain flamboyance to do it right, and an ease with people. Picard possesses both.

Nevertheless, he got out of the restaurant business when he left Aspen for the real world. He owned and operated a graphics business in Los Angles, commuting back and forth from Hawaii. By 2005, he was ready for a change and yearned to get back in the hospitality industry. The recession nixed the idea of getting into hotels, but Picard had an opportunity to acquire a 380-square-foot kitchen that soon made its mark by offering gourmet tacos sold out of a window. Word-of-mouth soon had hordes coming to the small commercial area where the taco stand was located. Customers would pester the other operators about the whereabouts of The Window. The restaurant gained a name by default.

Thats when I knew I was probably born to be in food hospitality, Picard said.

The taco stand evolved into Sure Thing at Lahaina, Hawaii. The restaurant was known for its high quality, grass-fed beef from cows raised on Maui.

Scott and his wife, Tammy, decided in 2013 that they wanted to move to the Roaring Fork Valley to raise their girls. They closed the Maui restaurant and set their sights on Willits. Its the latest entry into what Picard calls the better burger category. It includes The Grind, in Glenwood Springs, Fat Belly Burgers, in Carbondale, and CP Burger, in Aspen.

Picard said he never seriously entertained thoughts of opening his restaurant in Aspen. Offseasons are too brutal, he said, and rent would make it impossible to serve a $6.95 burger.

Picard vowed well before he opened that Sure Thing would be affordable as well as clean and comfortable with delicious food. Unlike many restaurant operators who discover they cant keep prices as low as they planned once they open, Picard has kept to his word. The menu features a slightly larger-than-quarter-pound burger with grass-fed, no-hormone beef from 7X Ranches in Hotchkiss. It remains priced at $6.95.

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Restaurant dream becomes Sure Thing at Willits

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) March 19, 2014

Leading restaurant furniture manufacturer and distributor Affordable Seating recently launched an informative Youtube video called "Restaurant Chairs 101". The video is aimed educating restauranteurs, business owners, managers and the public at large on which qualities to look for when purchasing high quality commercial chairs. It also highlights the superior construction methods and materials used by Affordable Seating as opposed to the competition.

The Youtube video focuses on the Ladder Back Chairs Affordable Seating produces. The chairs are made in the USA by skilled craftsman. "The Ladder Back Chair is the most popular chair in America," according to salesperson David M. "It has classic looks that allow it to blend into any setting and is very durable."

The chair is constructed of solid wood with sleek lines across the back. The chair measures 17" wide, 35" tall & 21" deep. Customers can customize the ladder back chair with their choice of solid wood seats and not plywood like our competition. Another option is a padded seat which is also proudly made in the USA. The seat is upholstered using American made foam and vinyl or fabric.

Affordable Seating's Ladder Back Chair is available in 5 different finishes. Custom finishing is also available upon request. The chairs are finished in a 7 stage process utilizing premium polyurethane from Sherwin Williams.

The commercial chair is assembled with mortise and tendon style construction & reinforced with heavy duty wood bolts glued for ultimate support. Each chair leg has a nylon glider attached to protect the floor.

All of Affordable Seating's chairs and bar stools are tested and certified by BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association), which requires the highest standards for construction of commercial furniture. This gives Affordable Seating the confidence to warrant furniture free from defects for 2 years.

Other important differences between Affordable Seating and the competition is the support frame in Affordable Seating's Ladder Back Chairs is made from 1" thick solid wood, unlike the completion which uses smaller, inferior wood. Another difference is the width of the chairs back. Comfort is key when purchasing furniture. A wider back rest provides extra comfort. Affordable Seating's chairs are at least 1/2" wider at the back rest.

Most of Affordable Seating's wood chairs and all of its solid wood table tops are made in the USA. This means that they not only support the local economy where the furniture is produced in the Midwest, it also means there is more quality control and faster shipping time for its customers. Affordable Seating is one of the few furniture distributors that also manufactures its own furniture in the USA.

To view Affordable Seatings full selection of restaurant chairs, bar stools, booths, tables and patio furniture visit http://www.affordableseating.net or call a customer service representative at (888) 495-8884.

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Affordable Seating Launches Informative Youtube Video on Restaurant Chairs

By Teresa F. Lindeman / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By the end of the year, the 25,000 Pittsburghers who drive by the Eatn Park restaurant on Banksville Road each day will be able to describe that spot as the place where the Eatn Park used to be.

The new place wont be far away just down the parking lot from the site that has been cooking up breakfasts, burgers and fish dinners for decades but management promises the place will represent a generational leap.

The new restaurant will have the same staff and the same menu but it will be built with construction techniques, including skylights to let the kitchen staff enjoy natural light, that aim for the LEED Silver certification meant to honor attention to reducing the impact on the environment.

Its time that our building matches the team members and our food, said Jeff Broadhurst, president and CEO of Eatn Park Hospitality Group, a Homestead company that operates more than 70 restaurants and also runs food operations for hospitals, universities and other businesses that two years ago began pulling in more revenues than the restaurants. Last year company revenues hit $403 million, up from $355 million the previous year.

This Thursday, Mr. Broadhurst and his brothers Brooks Broadhurst, senior vice president of food and beverage, and Mark Broadhurst, vice president of corporate dining and retail development will bring the shovels to the Banksville site to hold a ceremonial groundbreaking on the new restaurant that will replace one that went up in the late 1960s.

The new Banksville restaurant is a long time coming and a significant investment. It took awhile to work out the deal that adds approximately one acre to the existing 1.4-acre site a neighboring auto body shop was torn down and theres an adjacent cliff that pens in development.

The project is costing well over $2 million, said Jeff Broadhurst, and it isn't even the only overhaul planned this year. Eatn Park plans five remodels (Greensburg and Latrobe locations are on the to-do list), in addition to tearing down the Banksville restaurant and another on Library Road to replace with new structures.

Since 2008, the company has remodeled 27 of its Eatn Park restaurants and added 41 pick-up windows.

In advance of Thursdays groundbreaking, Mark and Brooks sat down at Eatn Park headquarters with Jeff tapped in via conference call from Maryland to talk about the state of the company.

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Eat'n Park starting from the ground up after decades on Banksville Road

By Jonathan Smith

jsmith@currentargus @CCAJonSmith on Twitter

Jon Smith -- Current-Argus Building shows the progress of McAlister's Deli at the Carlsbad Mall. Local officials say the restaurant is scheduled to open its doors in May.

CARLSBAD >> Construction on three new hotels and a popular deli are still on track for openings this year in Carlsbad, according to local officials.

McAlister's Deli, a national restaurant chain, should open its doors first good news for local residents who are craving the chain's sandwiches and sweet tea. The restaurant is currently set to open some time in May, said John Waters, director of the Carlsbad Department of Development.

"As far as we've been told and from what we've seen, everything is still on schedule for a May opening," Waters said. "We are really excited about that."

The deli is not the only buzz going around town for construction. Three new hotels are in the first stages of construction. All three hotels are scheduled to be open before the holiday season later in the year, Waters said.

Jon Smith -- Current-Argus Signs for McAlister's Deli lie the Carlsbad Mall for the restaurant chain. Local officials say the restaurant is scheduled to open its doors in May.

The hotels include La Quinta, Comfort Suites and Marriott Suites.

Marriott Suites, located at the old Furr's restaurant site, was the last new hotel to be announced and start construction. According to county records, the property, which is now split into two lots, was sold in June 2013.

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New restaurants, hotels on track to open in Carlsbad in 2014

A massive warehouse that for 70 years has perched at Duke Street on the Alexandria waterfront would be replaced with high-end residences, retail and a restaurant with views of the Potomac River, according to plans presented to the citys Waterfront Commission on Tuesday.

Robert D. Youngentob, a principal in the development company EYA, outlined the firms concept for an approximately $200million project that he said will transform the 3.5-acre site from industrial to a modern residential-commercial mix.

The presentation was the first public glimpse of what would replace the building known as Robinson Terminal South, which Graham Holdings the former owner of The Washington Post agreed to sell to EYA last year.

In addition to about 100 condominium units and townhouses, the project includes a public promenade and an upgraded pier that would allow boats and yachts to tie up for daytime visits. It is a key part of the Alexandria waterfront plan, which was the subject of a pitched two-year battle over the eight blocks of Old Town that border the Potomac. Opponents objected to the traffic and congestion that more development could bring.

We know there is a lot of controversy and history with the citys waterfront plan, and we want to balance, not overwhelm, the area, Youngentob said in an interview.

Lawsuits by opponents have failed to stop the waterfront plan, twice endorsed by the Alexandria City Council. It allows two boutique hotels, new residences and expanded parks along the river. Traffic, landscape design and flood mitigation studies are underway.

The Waterfront Commission, an advisory group appointed by the City Council, received the proposal with little discussion early Tuesday at its meeting.

People were in general pretty pleased, said council member Paul Smedberg (D), who serves on the commission. There were some questions about environmental issues, the piers, how people would get in and out.

The next significant step will be when the developers turn the concept into an actual plan. EYA officials said they expect to stay within the citys 50-foot height limit for the site, with condominium buildings of four or five stories.

The land will be raised, an effort to prevent flooding. The waterfront street, called the Strand, will be extended through the old warehouse property, then connected with Union Street.

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Developer proposing upscale housing, restaurant on Alexandria warehouse site

January 2014 Polar Vortex Catastrophe Situation - The Team
Every year or so, Northern Virginia #39;s geography puts it in line with some rare yet strong weather phenomena capable of catastrophe like impacts on homes and ...

By: Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling

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January 2014 Polar Vortex Catastrophe Situation - The Team - Video

First-ever Cleveland Home Remodeling Expo
Remodeling homeowners can find ideas and products this weekend at the new Cleveland Convention Center #39;s latest show running through Sunday.

By: WEWS NewsChannel5

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First-ever Cleveland Home & Remodeling Expo - Video