Building contest benefits Habitat for Humanity, celebrates STV—s 100th Anniversary

NEW YORK — LEGO building bricks were the construction materials of choice when STV hosted the "STV Anniversary Building Contest with LEGO Building Bricks" for its employees to celebrate the firm’s 100th anniversary and benefit Habitat for Humanity. A total of 130 employees on 15 teams from 11 STV offices participated.

Two teams tied for first place; one from STV’s Boston office and the other from its New York office. STV presented a $30,000 check to Habitat for Humanity International on February 14, 2013, to representatives from the organization’s Boston Affiliate. Administrator Frank DePaola, P.E., of the MassDOT Highway Division was on-hand during the presentation.

Six teams from the Charlotte, N.C.; New York City; Douglassville, Pa.; Overland Park, Kan.; and Stratford, Conn., offices received honorable mention awards for their winning creations. Donations totaling $50,000 will be made in the names of the winners to Habitat for Humanity’s 2013 HFHI Youth Conference and its local affiliates in the winning teams’ cities.

"We are very proud to have reached this milestone in our company’s history, and we wanted to celebrate with our employees in a way that gives back to our communities at the same time," said Dominick M. Servedio, P.E., STV executive chairman.

"A building contest using LEGO bricks was a fun, creative way for our employees to use their talents to mark the anniversary. Habitat for Humanity was a natural choice for our donation because we both aspire to improve people’s quality of life through the built environment," said Milo E. Riverso, Ph.D., P.E., STV president and chief executive officer.

A $30,000 donation was made to the 2013 HFHI Youth Conference, and $4,000 each to the local Boston and New York City Habitat affiliates. A $2,000 donation was made to the local affiliates in Charlotte, N.C.; New York City; Douglassville, Pa.; Overland Park, Kan., and Stratford, Conn., in the names of the six teams that received honorable mention awards.

•First Place Award: "Fore River Bridge," a replica of the Fore River Bridge scheduled to be completed in 2015 to connect Weymouth and Quincy, Mass., was created by the Boston Red Blox. Team members include: Jeff Bachiochi; Andy Bradshaw; Nikole Bulger; Joe Burke; Michael Camoscio; Li Chen; Joyce Finnegan; Kristine Gorman; Bill Goulet; Dustin Kerksieck; Alison Love; and Judy O’Mara.

•First Place Award: "Vehicle Assembly Building," a replica of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, a project STV was a part of in the 1970s, created by the Successful Transportation Vanguards (STVers) from the STV office in New York City. Team members include: Patrick O’Mara; Nil Simsek; Steven Scalici; Han Pham; and Mark Ginocchio.

•Six Honorable Mention Awards:
1)  "Bascule Bridge," a moveable bascule bridge, created by Centum Annis from the STV office in New York City. Team members are: Dennis Biegel; Kelly Bird; Chris Frauenberger; Martin Hartmann; Alan Marchan; Dan Millman; Ryan Mulvey; John Rossiello; Michael Ritchie; Maurice Roberts.
2) "Coney Island Parachute Jump," a replica of the 1939 World’s Fair Parachute Jump created by Flying Dogs from the STV office in Douglassville, Pa. The firm’s earliest predecessor firm, Elwyn E. Seelye & Co. designed the foundations for the parachute jump at the world’s fair and again when it moved to Coney Island. The firm then rehabilitated the structure in 2006. Team members are Lori Burnley; Traci Meitzler; Jessie Santini; Ty Shappell; and Carlos Tovar.
3) "Coney Island Parachute Jump," a replica of the famous 1939 World’s Fair Parachute Jump, created by Stratford to Victory from the STV office in Stratford, Conn. Team members are: Bernardo Capuno; Mary-Kate Casey; Tonya Chappell; Richard Ezyk; Jerry Gerletz; Samuel Junno; James Sherwonit; John Sherwonit; and Robert Smoko.
4) "Roman City with Viaduct," a replica of a Roman aqueduct, created by Basement Builders from the STV office in Charlotte, N.C. Team members include: Scott Adams; Taylor Driscoll; Heather Harkenrider; Melody Kearse; Andre Mullins; Matthew Shoesmith; Matthew Sexton; and Tiara Williams.
5)  "Topographic Map of Manhattan," a recreation of the topographical map created by Elwyn E. Seelye & Co., updating the well-known Viele map for the City of New York, created by LCM from the STV office in New York City. Team members are: Sylvain Blanchard; Ashley Chin; Yitzchak Dachman; Francisco Gilbert; Nicholas Guarnieri; Michael Meloni; John Nadon; and James Perise.
6) "Tornado," a recreation of the tornado in Joplin, Mo., created by Overland Park from the STV office in Overland Park, Kan. Team members are: Michael Harrison; Athena Huynh; Jonathan Kohler; David Magistro; Christy Nelson; Jennifer Schwaller and Yong Yang.