Parker: Clark Builders marks 50 years of excellence in construction industry

Clark Builders has become a major economic contributor to our economy

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Clark Builders is today one of Calgary’s leading construction companies, but it all began 50 years ago when Andy Clark took on his first project in Yellowknife. That’s where the company first grew with a focus on northern development and remote work, and successfully managing tough challenges of logistics and climate conditions meant Clark was able to target growth, and in 1974 relocated his headquarters to Edmonton.

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It still has an office in Yellowknife, but further expansion into Calgary in 1999 was followed by a time of hectic business with steady growth in the southern Alberta market and internationally. With a willingness to “go where the work is,” it accepted and completed projects in China, Russia and Japan.

It worked on the first wood frame public housing project in Japan, procuring and shipping all exterior and interior materials from Canada. Subsequently erecting the 44-unit, three-storey apartment complex in Osaka; it is still upheld as a showpiece of Canadian construction in Japan.

Clark Builders soon became one of Canada’s leading general contractors and, continuing to expand through its partnership with U.S.-based Turner Construction in 2012, is now part of one of the world’s largest building construction companies, adding offices in Vancouver and Kelowna.

The opening of its Calgary office, after purchasing locally owned Carlson Construction, was led by vice-president and general manager Jean Dentinger, who had managed the overseas involvement of the company. His 30 years in the Alberta construction market helped Clark Builders to quickly earn the privilege of being awarded some significant projects here. One of its earlier successes was the construction of One Executive Place for Beca International. Located on Crowchild Trail N. across from McMahon Stadium in Motel Village, the 103,800-square-foot steel structure, with brick and curtain wall exterior, was completed at a cost of $12.3 million.

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A similar project is Sovereign Centre, the seven-storey office tower on the busy southeast junction of Macleod Trail and Glenmore Trail. The 102,560-square-foot landmark property has 8,200 square feet of retail atop two levels of parking.

Residential in the downtown soon became a significant part of the growth here. Clark Builders was responsible for the construction of the 139-suite Eau Claire Retirement Residences, 205 Riverfront on the banks of the Bow, and the prestigious 14-storey highrise condominium development Princeton Hall.

An increasing number of live-in projects in this city are for seniors’ residences, and Clark Builders has been involved in a number of notable ones. At the entrance to the much-lauded University District is Cambridge Manor, a wellness centre built for the Brenda Strafford Foundation. A four-storey, 248,000-square-foot structure, it offers a wide range of accommodation options for the residents of 240 units.

Another of the larger homes it built is Horizon View, a 187,722-square-foot, five-storey residence offering 210 safe, appropriate, affordable suites by Onward Homes, one of the city’s largest and fastest-growing not-for-profit affordable housing providers.

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Crews are currently working on the site of the newest Wing Kei Village site on Centre Street N. for long term, hospice and senior care.

Clark Builders is certainly versatile in its portfolio of projects. They include education, energy, health care, sports and recreation, commercial and industrial, with a huge amount of spaces being erected in the Balzac area.

The Lowe’s Canada logistical hub built on a 69-acre site provided a massive 1,230,000 square feet of warehousing that boasted 74 dock doors. In the same High Plains Industrial Park, there’s Smuckers at 502,000 square feet and Home Depot at 418,000 square feet, and nearby, Clark Builders completed another 500,000-plus-square-foot fulfilment centre for Voila Grocery, and the more than one million-square-foot warehouse for Amazon that can park 389 trailers outside.

Clark Builders has become a major economic contributor to our economy, and now under the executive leadership team of Steve Lenarduzzi, Andrew Ross, Randy Kyrzyk and Kim Connell, it is confident about its continued growth over the next 50 years.

Notes:

Buy local, and support Western culture with art and music. You have a wonderful opportunity by attending the sixth annual Pure West Art and Artifact Auction at the historic Deane House on Sunday. Tickets are available online. A highlight will be a performance by country music icon George Canyon and a debut of his paintings.

David Parker appears regularly in the Herald. Read his columns online at calgaryherald.com/business. He can be reached at 403-830-4622.

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