April 2023 - PARIC Corporation

Missouri Science and Technology needed a partner to achieve its vision of transforming the university into the Midwest hub for research, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. PARIC is that partner.

In 2020, the Missouri S&T Chancellor set a strategic vision of growing the school’s enrollment by 50% and achieving Carnegie R1 status. Missouri S&T was setting its aim to rival the national leaders in technical education—to be discussed in the same breath as Purdue and Georgia Tech. To achieve this vision for the future, Chancellor Dr. Mohammad Dehghani knew they would need to build a physical campus worthy of this goal.

“The definition of an excellent university includes excellent students and excellent faculty, and we need to have a fitting campus for the types of students and faculty we want to continue to attract,” said Chancellor Dehghani.

Rendering of high-bay manufacturing lab space at the Missouri s&T Protoplex. — Rendering of high-bay manufacturing lab space at the Missouri S&T Protoplex.

PARIC Builds Answers

The university faced a unique challenge. There was no “front door” to the campus. In order to raise the national profile of the university, they needed a plan that included a physical building that would make a statement to the nation that “Missouri S&T is here to compete with the most talented engineers in the world.” This master plan—The Manufacture Missouri Ecosystem—will be anchored by one of the region’s most daring and inspired buildings—the Missouri Protoplex.

“The Protoplex is the centerpiece or crown jewel of the innovation campus,” said PARIC Client Engagement Manager Kevin Sullivan.

PARIC is literally constructing Missouri S&T’s vision for the future—a 116,000-sq-ft laboratory building designed for collaborative work, which requires flexibility to move back and forth between the suites of traditional lab, office and conference spaces and large, secure, well-appointed high-bay manufacturing lab spaces.

“The high bay nature of the build and the equipment that’s going to go inside is really a first for our state,” Sullivan said. “I’m excited about the role PARIC is playing in the future of Missouri. Attracting jobs and people from outside the state to Missouri S&T, but also providing a great foundation of excellence for the students.”

Exterior view of the Missouri S&T Protoplex from the highway.

The small Illinois town of Danville was growing, but its healthcare infrastructure had yet to. Operating out of two facilities, one an old converted grocery store, the community desperately needed a modern building that could provide medical services to the city’s residents. Carle Health recognized it was time to invest in and commit to Danville—they chose PARIC to bring that commitment to life.

The site chosen was strategic—a 17-acre plot primarily comprised of condemned housing was cleared for the build.

The 17-acre plot cleared for construction of Danville, Illinois most significant investment in decades.

“We ended up clearing about 60 houses that were just falling apart and had become a site for crime around that area,” Project Executive Mike Hayes said. “These were properties that were beyond needing repair. Ultimately, the project brought up the value of the area.”

The 17-acre plot is now home to Carle at the Riverfront—a 152,000 sq. ft. facility. The $70 million project is the largest development in Vermilion County in the past 50 years, which of course, drew lots of interest from the community.

“There would be times when we would be going around town, and we would have the PARIC logo on our shirts or trucks, and we would get stopped,” Ruck said. “Folks would ask if we were working on the Carle Hospital. They were just so excited about the build.”
– BILL RUCK, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

“Residents would drive by all the time and check on the progress,” said PARIC Senior Project Manager Bill Ruck. “They would make comments like, ‘It looks amazing. I can’t believe how far along it’s coming so quickly, or I can’t believe it is already open.’”

Ruck and his crew, who lived in Danville five days a week during the course of the project, became minor celebrities around town.

“There would be times when we would be going around town, and we would have the PARIC logo on our shirts or trucks, and we would get stopped,” Ruck said. “Folks would ask if we were working on the Carle Hospital. They were just so excited about the build.”

Hayes found fans of the project all the way down in Florida.

“My family and I went to Disney last year, and my father-in-law is one of those people who talks to everyone,” Hayes said. “We were at the Magic Kingdom waiting for the fireworks to go off, and he started talking to the couple next to us. Turns out, they were from Danville. He mentioned that I was working on the Carle project, and those folks were so excited. They started going on about how awesome the project is for the area and how they love that it is happening.”

Month: April 2023

PARIC Constructs Missouri S&T’s Vision for Innovation in the Midwest

PARIC Transforms Healthcare for a Small-Town Community