For the Win: Penn State University’s Beaver Stadium Renovation + Expansion, 1999
Projects
Backlog is the lifeblood of any construction company — and in order to build backlog, you have to win work. Barton Malow has won its share of new, notable, and challenging projects throughout its 100-year history, elevating it to its position among the leading contractors in America.
Winning new projects not only builds backlog but allows the enterprise to strengthen client relationships, find innovative ways to transform and optimize practices, and gain the knowledge and experience to stay on the forefront of new technologies.
Every great win has a story. Here’s the story of Penn State University’s 1999 Beaver Stadium Renovation and Expansion project.
Through the Uprights at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium
Bob Grottenthaler, retired Senior Vice President, Eastern Region, is a proud alum of Penn State, a graduate of its renowned Architectural Engineering program. In the mid-‘90s, Barton Malow’s Eastern Region markets were mainly Maryland and Virginia, but Bob wanted to break into Pennsylvania.
His involvement in PACE (Partnership for Achieving Construction Excellence) at Penn State introduced him to professors, representatives from the Office of Physical Plant, and other industry professionals. While at a PACE event, Bob learned about a massive Penn State Beaver Stadium renovation project. At the time, Barton Malow had a robust stadium resume, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Coors Field, and Paul Brown Stadium, among others. Bob met a local contractor who had previous experience working on Beaver Stadium and decided to joint venture for the upcoming project to offer Penn State the expertise of a national sports builder and the knowledge of a local builder.
It Takes a Team
Penn State invited three firms to interview, and Vice President Len Moser knew Barton Malow had to find ways to stand out.
“We had a strong team with pre-construction experience, which is very important. We had an estimator who worked on a lot of sports projects. We had a gentleman who used to work with the architectural firm who now worked with us. And we said, this guy is going to help us review the design documents from a quality control and constructability perspective. He’s our subject matter expert with sports, so he’s on our team.”
Bob remembers the day he got the call inviting him to a project executive’s office. When he arrived, he got the message he’d hoped for: “Congratulations! You won Beaver Stadium?” Said Bob, “The feeling was just like, wow, this is the greatest news I’ve ever heard.”
What was the winning play for Beaver Stadium? One Penn State representative said it was the realistic, truthful, honest plan that we didn’t oversell. Another story was another Penn State representative was impressed with Barton Malow’s Sports portfolio, including Camden Yards and said, “Based on all these noteworthy sports projects, give the award to Barton Malow.”
Either way, among tough competition, Barton Malow won the day — and that initial project led to many more at Beaver Stadium and on Penn State’s campus over the years.
