The People Behind the New Central Construction Project

On day 101 of the construction project for the new Central Library, I had the pleasure of being among the very first to tour the construction site. The people behind the project at Turner Construction Company, along with city engineering and project management staff, led the tour and told us all about the processes that were occurring. In the photo below are team members shaping the new Central Library construction project, although conspicuously missing from the photo is Tony Perez, the City’s Resident Engineer for this project. He decided to be our photographer and he did a great job!

From left to right, are: Cynthia Meinhardt, City of San Diego Project Officer II
with the Engineering and Capital Projects Dept. (E&CP); Afshin Oskoui, City Engineer
and Assistant Director of E&CP; Dave Jarrell, Deputy Chief Operating Officer for
Public Works; and Kristine Wunder-Myers, Safety Manager for Turner Construction Co.
Continuing along the back, left to right, are: Tony Heinrichs, Acting Director of E&CP;
John Scheuer, General Superintendent, Turner Construction Co.; Ron Rudolph,
Vice President, Turner Construction Co.; Darren Greenhalgh, Deputy Director of E&CP;
and Nikki Lewis, Associate Engineer with E&CP. In front, left to right,
standing next to me is Carmen Vann, Senior Project Manager, Turner Construction Co.;
and to the far right is Amy Benjamin, Policy Advisor in the Office of Mayor Jerry Sanders.

We were on site with hard hats, safety vests and sturdy shoes. It was fascinating to hear about the process of constructing such a building and seeing firsthand the workflow among the various trades on site. It was impressive how well they worked together. We saw carpenters, steelworkers, and concrete workers, just to name a few, actively working step by step to complete their part and pass the work on to the next stage to keep the job going. The safety record on the job site is impressive, too. As of day 101 there were no safety incidents resulting in lost time.

From left to right, next to me are: Turner Construction Safety Manager
Kristine Wunder-Myers, City of San Diego Project Officer with the
Engineering and Capital Projects Cynthia Meinhardt, and
Senior Project Manager with Turner Construction Carmen Vann.

And, speaking of working well together, take a look at the photo above. Shown with me are the women leaders of this amazing construction project. I think that Kristine, Cynthia and Carmen are exceptional women who chose to take what has been considered (perhaps in the past) as an unconventional path to their careers. These are people with major skills and smarts who have reached high levels. I believe that these three women will serve as role models for many of us for years to come. I am so thankful to them and the many expert, dedicated, people involved in this project. I am thankful as well for the many people who support our library system in various ways.