By Mark Rea

Much like the rest of the state, the construction industry throughout the Texas Panhandle has escaped the economic problems plaguing other parts of the country and has prospered amid some tough fiscal times.

According to McGraw-Hill Dodge reports in mid-August, well over $750 million worth of projects were either under construction on ready to get under way in the Panhandle region. Much of that work is in the Lubbock area, where Texas Tech University is in the midst of its largest construction program in more than 30 years.

And while agriculture continues to be a driving force of the region's economy, commercial construction of new industrial, manufacturing and healthcare facilities will keep the area growing. "From where we were to where we are today, we're in good shape," Lubbock Mayor Marc McDougal recently told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
"We need to continue to move forward."

Many area construction firms have already taken McDougal's advice to heart.

"I would say business is good here and has been for quite some time," said Chad Henthorn, a project manager for Lubbock-based Lee Lewis Construction Inc. "A lot of the boom in Lubbock, of course, is because of the university. Texas Tech has a lot of work under way with the University Medical Center and Health Sciences Center.

"But there is a lot of other commercial construction going on in Lubbock right now. We haven't seen this type of commercial construction in probably 20 years."

Don Bundock of Lee Lewis Construction, a longtime resident of the area, added that "residential is absolutely over the top. We're not seeing what they're seeing in Dallas or Houston or Austin, but it's certainly record levels for us."

In 2002, the city of Lubbock issued more than 1,000 single-family housing permits for the second consecutive year. Along with 1,281 permits for single-game homes, the city also permitted 99 multi-family dwellings. The total valuation of those 2002 permits was $181.3 million, according to the Lubbock Building Inspections Department. That compared with $145.9 million the previous year.

And all of that residential housing translates into new shopping centers, schools, churches, roadway improvements and infrastructure upgrades.

According to McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge figures, there were more than 30 projects with contract values of at least $2 million each already bid or currently under way in Lubbock County. They include several projects at Texas Tech: an extensive $75.1 million renovation of Jones SBC Stadium, the new $37.8 million Experimental Sciences Building, the $14 million Animal and Food Sciences Facility and the $11.5 million Health Science Center Academic Classroom and Auditorium project.

Lee Lewis Construction is the construction manager for all of the Texas Tech projects.
Other commercial projects either already started or slated to begin soon by Lubbock-area contractors include the $21 million Centre at Overton Park to be built by McDougal Construction, a $10 million Tyco Manufacturing Plant under the management of Earth Tech Inc. and nearly $9 million in expansion and renovation work at the Southwest Texas Cancer Center to be managed by Lee Lewis Construction. There is also a new $4 million Academy Sports and Outdoor Store currently under construction by Houston-based Comanche Contractors.

Not Limited To Lubbock

About 120 miles to the north of Lubbock, Amarillo is also experiencing continued growth in its construction industry.

Work recently began on the $27.8 million Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, seen by area officials as the new crown jewel for downtown Amarillo. "If we're going to spend that amount of money, it must be a world-class facility and we believe that it is," said project executive director Laura Street.

Dallas-based Hunt Construction Group is in charge of building the 1,285-seat center, which will be home to the Amarillo Opera, Amarillo Symphony and Lone Star Ballet.

Named for the Amarillo Globe-News after receiving a $3 million donation from William S. Morris III, chairman and CEO of Augusta, Ga.-based Morris Communication Co., the newspaper's parent company, the facility will stand 10 stories tall at its highest point.
The 70,000-sq.-ft. center will be a multifaceted Colorado sandstone building with a sweeping roofline and a 30-ft.-high, glassed-in lobby with a grand staircase. There will also be a Founders' Lounge, Education Center and support facilities including an orchestra pit, green room and catering kitchen.

The performing arts center will boast one of the nation's first retractable acoustic shells, a structure that can be rolled off stage for dance and theater performances.

The Globe-News Center is the second high-profile project in Amarillo in just the past few months. In April, an 18-month construction project funded by local voters was completed with the opening of a new 100,000-sq.-ft. North Exhibit Hall at the Amarillo Civic Center.

Hunt Construction is not the only general contractor expanding its focus into the Panhandle region. McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge found firms from Dallas, Austin, Lewisville and Houston all building commercial structures in the Amarillo/Potter County area.

The projects include a $28.8 million fine arts center at West Texas A&M University, $12 million worth of new construction, additions and renovations to Baptist Community Services facilities, a $7.5 million Bed Tower Addition and Heart Hospital, a $7.5 million Wal-Mart Supercenter; more than $7 million worth of elementary school gymnasium additions in the Canyon Independent School District and improvements worth nearly $5 million to the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant.

According to the Amarillo's Code Enforcement Department, the city has experienced unprecedented growth during the last several years. Permits granted for the three-year period from 2000 to 2002 accounted for more than $700 million, with a record $261.1 million recorded last year. Through the first four months of 2003, the city was on a similar pace with nearly $76 million in building permits. Commercial building accounted for 54 percent of that total.

Small Town Participation

Even the smallest of Panhandle towns are sharing in the construction boom. A Louisiana-based company recently announced plans to build a pair of $40 million ethanol plants in Dumas and Sunray, small towns in Moore County north of Amarillo.

Robert Worley, executive director for the Dumas Economic Development Corp., said each plant will produce about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year, with the capability to expand to 80 million gallons. He added that each plant is expected to employ 36 people, with a $1.3 million payroll initially.

"One of the primary reasons we're going to Texas is the location of the feedlots," Duke Pylant, co-owner of Shreveport, La.-based Panhandle Energies LLC, told the Globe-News. "We have a byproduct - distillers dried grain - that is primarily fed to the dairy and beef herds. The less you truck it, the better off you are."

State Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, is a major proponent of getting ethanol production located in Texas and said 72 ethanol plants are operating in the United States. These plants would be the first for ethanol in Texas.

Congress is working on a mandate to phase out the current additive to gasoline, methyl tertiary butyl ether, in the next five years. The replacement must comply with the renewable fuel standards, and ethanol or bio-diesel are the safest, cleanest-burning, and most cost-effective of the replacement products, Swinford said.

"This means we will need approximately 70 more of these plants to make the amount of ethanol that will be required," he said.

Worley said that an optimistic plan would have ground-breaking take place within the next six months on the first plant and it would be operational a year later.

Infrastructure Upgrades

In addition to commercial construction, improvements and upgrades in the area's infrastructure continues. Spurred by a surge in international business trade, the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co., a subsidiary of Fort Worth-based Northern Santa Fe Corp., recently opened a second main track in the Panhandle on BNSF's Chicago-Los Angeles line to expand capacity.

The final portion of a 13.5-mi. section double track between Codman and Lora on the Panhandle Subdivision was cut over in mid-July.

As many as 70 intermodal trains operate per day over the track during peak season, and much of the increase over the line is a result of more international business. The double tracking of the transcon line will continue east of Lora to Coburn, with 32 mi. scheduled to be cut over in mid-November.

The Texas Department of Transportation is also participating in the boom with at least two high-profile projects currently under way in the area, including a $50.6 million widening of Loop 289 under the direction of the Lubbock office of California-based Granite Construction Co.

Meanwhile, Roanoke-based Duininck Bros. Inc. recently began work on a $14.5 million rehabilitation of U.S. Highway 84 in Lubbock County.

USEFUL SOURCES

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