RICH 100-YEAR-OLD HISTORY BLANKETS STUART OLSON
The Riddell Library and Learning Centre, which is holding its official opening celebrations on Thursday, was built by Stuart Olson, a company with a fine reputation in post-secondary development.
Headquartered in Calgary, the $1-billion-plus firm has been active with construction projects at the universities of British Columbia, Toronto, Alberta and Calgary, and is currently working on a 220,000-square-foot administration building and student centre at the U of T campus in Mississauga, Ont.
In Calgary, Stuart Olson was engaged on the three-phase redevelopment and expansion of Bow Valley College, a $200-million project that was completed with the opening of the 280,000-square-foot South Campus.
At the University of Calgary, crews are about to begin work on the redevelopment of the MacKimmie Hall and construction of a second tower.
In Lethbridge, Stuart Olson is the construction manager for the $70-million Lethbridge College Trades Technologies Renewal and Innovation Project (TTRIP).
The 165,270-square-foot addition and renovation will dramatically update the program facilities and expand the program’s capacity by 65 per cent.
And Stuart Olson is proud to have been selected to build the under-construction new Central Library in East Village; a contemporary and engaging facility that will be used for generations to come.
A challenging exercise, as the site is bisected by the LRT tunnel that emerges at grade at the north end of the property, the design includes a terraced plaza that rises over the LRT to create a connection into the new library.
The company has 40 people working in its corporate office — in a stylish tower it built in the WestMount Corporate Campus on Richard Road S.W. — with another 160 staff and employees working in Calgary.
The firm is a major force in this province but its projects stretch from Ontario to the west coast. In its construction division, it is proud of the $200-million Winnipeg Convention Centre and the Blue Bombers’ Canadian Football League stadium in that city
David LeMay is president and CEO of Stuart Olson, overseeing the several divisions of the integrated construction and industrial solutions company.
Brought up near Thunder Bay, Ont., Le May is a construction electrician who worked in that city before relocating to Fort McMurray in 2006. He moved to Edmonton in 2009 and became president of Stuart Olson subsidiary Laird Electric. In 2010, he decided to get an executive MBA at Queen’s. He wrote his thesis on a plan to bring the company’s six divisions under one management team, which was accepted by Stuart Olson, and he was appointed president and CEO.
The name in Calgary is best known for its involvement as a trusted partner in the construction of commercial and institutional projects, but LeMay says more than half of its business is in industrial services that employs more than 2,000 spread across Canada.
Major projects under construction include an SO2 Wet Gas facility in Sudbury, Ont., and a $100-million Manitoba Hydro project.
Stuart Olson has had a rich history for more than 100 years, grounded in respect, transparency and collaboration. A company with a 4,200-strong team, it is proudly Canadian and committed to giving back to all of the communities it serves.
A major event in Calgary is the Stuart Olson Charity Golf Classic at Cottonwood Golf and Country Club that will raise money for the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Last year’s tournament raised more than $100,000 for the hospital.
NOTES
There’s a changing of the guard in the ranks of Consuls General.
Last week, a reception was held to bid farewell to Xinping Wang, who has been an effective Consul General of the People’s Republic of China.
And now, after four and a half years in this city Consul General Andres Talero, who opened the first permanent mission of Colombia for the Prairie Provinces, informs us that his tenure expires in October.