The McDonnel Group, a Metairie-based general contractor, has earned two state construction industry awards for two area projects that are now also advanced into the national construction industry competition.

The “Best of 2009” awards from industry publication “South Central Construction” magazine annually recognizes construction and design excellence from across Louisiana. The McDonnel Group earned a “Best in Category” award for “Best Health Care Project” for its work on the major expansion of Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital in Lacombe. It also earned an “Award of Excellence” in the education project category, the highest award given in that category this year, for its construction of Lakeshore High School.

“Both of these projects are quite significant for their community. We were proud to have been a part of their construction,” said company president Allan McDonnel. “We’ve never entered this competition before this year so this is quite an accomplishment. I also believe it’s a true testament to our clients, who chose us because we deliver projects of quality and durability.” The “Best of 2009” jury awarded projects based on entry criteria including safety, innovation, contribution to the community or industry, construction quality and craftsmanship, and function and aesthetic quality of design. The entries were sorted by project type.

By earning the  “Best Health Care Project of 2009””award, the Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital project by The McDonnel Group will be entered into McGraw-Hill Construction’s National Awards Competition Best of 2009 and judged against winners from other regions.

The four-story patient tower built at Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital was an expansion so large it changed the face of hospital. The $40 million project, completed in May 2009, has more than tripled the hospital’s bed-space and doubled the Emergency Department, filling urgent healthcare needs on the North Shore. The expansion project also included construction of three new operating rooms and expanded radiology facilities.

Construction began on the $39 million Lakeshore High School in February 2007. It was completed this summer, in time for students to start their new school year at the 158,000-square foot school. The new campus integrated many structures, including four classroom wings and a gymnasium as well as agricultural-science and band-choral buildings.

Innovation on this project extended beyond the actual construction, McDonnel said, noting that the company put a real-time web-camera on their company web-site, allowing St. Tammany Parish School Board members, teachers, students and the community to watch the building take shape from the ground up.