Hisaw & Associates

Making the Grade With School Construction

By Jeff Hawk

A decade ago, Dick Hisaw uprooted his Albuquerque, N.M.-based construction business and transplanted it to the rapidly growing Dallas-Fort Worth area. Hisaw had built structures in Texas since 1977 but decided to move his operation when he saw a growth pattern in Texas.

"It looked like a good market," said Hisaw, president of Hisaw & Associates Inc.

He was right. The company ranks 25 on Texas Construction's list of the state's top contractors.

Since 1995, business for the Carrollton-based company has grown roughly 150 percent, from $3 million in its first year to $154 million currently under contract.

Much of the work has consisted of building schools to support the area's burgeoning population. Ten independent school districts, including Richardson, Plano, Rockwall, Arlington and Frisco, have hired Hisaw & Associates, often to serve as the construction manager-at-risk. The company has completed nearly a dozen projects for Lewisville ISD alone.

In 1996 Hisaw built the state's first private prekindergarten for Greenhill School in Addison. When the state of Texas mandated prekindergarten in 2001, the company built the first facility for Denton ISD.

The company has also built a reputation for understanding the challenges specific to building learning centers. Hisaw's team often joins the project in its early programming phases and provides preliminary estimates and schematic designs prior to building the facility.

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"Typically we build additions and move students into them, so scheduling and phasing are important," said Bill Morgan, vice president in charge of contracts and estimates. The education process comes first, the construction comes second."

Hisaw recognizes that improper or incomplete construction can disrupt and even shut down the education process.

For example, some Texas schools testing positive for mold contamination have undergone expensive remediation and even closure. In response, Hisaw & Associates initiated two programs to not only ensure the quality of construction but also the health and safety of students and faculty.

The company's mold-prevention policy outlines several steps to minimize a structure's exposure to mold-causing moisture while under construction. They include delivering drywall only after the building is "dried in" and vacuuming and cleaning debris prior to enclosing the interior walls.

Each side of the drywall is also tested with a moisture meter before taping. Hisaw worked with Lewisville ISD to change its design standards, incorporating concrete masonry unit wall construction rather than moisture-susceptible drywall and pitched roofs rather than flat. "We're serious about mold," Hisaw said.

The company also creates a 60-day, 30-day and final quality-control "punch list" to ensure that everything is in order before the buildings are occupied. Hisaw employees inspect every room and give subcontractors a trade-specific checklist of items that must be addressed before the project is turned over to the owner.

"We tell our subcontractors, 'There is no plan B,'" Morgan said.

The industry has taken note. The American Institute of Architects recognized Hisaw an award of merit in 1999 for its quality and workmanship on Greenhill's Phillip Family Athletic Center. Designed by San Antonio-based Lake/Flato Architects Inc. and Hidell Architects of Dallas, the center features a 1,200-seat gymnasium and natatorium equipped with a 25-meter pool.

The project called for a "very difficult" concrete exterior, and so the concrete work was self-performed, Hisaw said.

His firm board-formed the exterior concrete to make it look like Douglas fir cabinet-grade woodwork. The center's natatorium represents a Hisaw specialty.

The contractor has built natatoriums for several school districts and cities, including Allen and Coppell. Hisaw also built the city of Plano's $12 million, 72,000-sq.-ft. Oak Point Aquatic & Recreation Center equipped with a climbing wall, elevated running track and Olympic-size indoor pool.

Other signature projects include the 181,000-sq.-ft. Ben Barber Career Technology Academy, which was recently completed for Mansfield ISD. The academy provides experience in a variety of professions, and it features a soaring arch entranceway, ceramic tile terrazzo flooring and aluminum storefronts.

Hisaw's construction of Mansfield's new $29.8 million, 100,000-sq.-ft. athletic complex is currently under way.

While Hisaw has also built fire stations, churches and city halls in Texas, educational and recreational construction will likely continue to comprise the bulk of its portfolio. The company recently started construction on a $22 million contract for the Lewisville High School Ninth Grade Center and $9.1 million in additions and renovations to the June R. Thompson Elementary School in Carrollton.

Morgan said he expects the education market to be "lucrative for another 10 years."