Helmkamp Construction and Illinois American Water Break Ground on Jerseyville Operations Center

East Alton, IL – On what seemed to be just another chilly day in February was the celebration of a milestone in the project timeline for Illinois American Water’s new operations center in Jerseyville, Illinois. The 16,000 square foot operations center will consolidate field operations, administrative and operations support staff in a single location at the address of 501 Mound Street.

As snow melted, the preparation for construction commenced and excavation equipment began to arrive. Finally, a groundbreaking celebration for all parties involved was underway.

Kyle Ogden, Project Director at Helmkamp Construction, welcomed all attendees to the groundbreaking event saying “Thank you to the entire design build team for their work in the design phase and getting us to this point. We are all excited to move into the construction phase and bring this project to life.” Also joining in the occasion was the City of Jerseyville’s mayor, William Russell, who was excited to celebrate the milestone with Illinois American Water.

Ogden, who has been instrumental in coordinating the early efforts between parties, has a strong leadership team guiding the construction phase for Helmkamp that includes Project Manager, Cole Hagen, and Superintendent, Randy Houck. Houck alone has nearly eighteen years of building successful projects in the field for Helmkamp Construction. “The design team has a combination of prior experience with both American Water projects and other projects completed in Jerseyville. Between M+H, the engineering firms, and our ability to run highly successful projects, we felt this was a collaboration that would offer the best results for Illinois American Water.”

The design build team on this project includes Helmkamp Construction (General Contractor), M+H Architects (Architect), Heneghan & Associates (Civil Engineer), SSC Engineering (Structural Engineer), and Custom Engineering (Mechanical Engineer).

Construction is projected to be completed by the end of 2022.