Arena Stage Expansion & Renovation Wins Aon Build America Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Clark Construction Group, LLC, earned an Aon Build America Award, one of the nation's most prestigious construction industry awards, for its role in the Arena Stage Expansion and Renovation project. The award was presented on March 23 by Associated General Contractors of America during the group's annual convention. 

Clark, which won in the building renovation category, transformed the 50-year-old Washington, D.C., landmark into Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, a vibrant theater campus. Until 2008, Arena Stage consisted of two free-standing theaters: the Kreeger and the Fichandler Stage. Clark built an additional theater - the 200-seat Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle Theater - and enclosed all three spaces in a transparent glass curtain wall. Both existing theaters were fully renovated. The Kreeger's seats were restored, existing finishes were refurbished, and new rigging and control booths were built; the theater's formerly-exposed roof was transformed to an open public area, overlooking the main level. The Fichandler's renovations include a refinished stage, new catwalk, and carefully-restored plaster, concrete, and woodwork.

Bing Thom Architects, Vancouver, Canada, is the project's architect. 

The Aon Build America Awards recognize the nation's most significant construction projects.  A panel of judges, representing all areas of construction, evaluated over 115 projects this year, assessing each project's complexity, use of innovative construction techniques and coordination with partners, among other criteria. This is Clark's 15^th Aon Build America Award. The company most recently was recognized for Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, in 2008.