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Projects

Lawrence Lofts

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The upper stories of the historic Lawrence Building in downtown Sterling, Illinois, stood vacant for more than 50 years before being revitalized into much-needed affordable housing through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Bush Construction partnered with the Economic Growth Corporation and local stakeholders to renovate the 22,000 square feet spanning the second through fifth floors of the 1910 office building, creating 20 high-quality residential units now known as the Lawrence Lofts.

The adaptive reuse project preserved the building’s historic character while modernizing long-unused spaces for safe, efficient residential living. Interior systems were upgraded to meet current building and energy codes, and unit layouts were thoughtfully designed to maximize existing floor plans while providing comfortable, functional homes for residents. The first floor of the building remains under the ownership and use of the Whiteside County Courthouse Extension Office, maintaining the building’s role as a civic anchor in the community.

Located in the heart of downtown Sterling, the Lawrence Lofts play a key role in the City’s broader revitalization strategy focused on reinvesting in underutilized historic buildings. Through coordinated collaboration with the Economic Growth Corporation, this LIHTC development supports long-term affordability, strengthens the downtown housing supply, and contributes to renewed economic activity—bringing life back to a long-vacant landmark while serving residents and the surrounding community.

Truman Elementary School

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The Truman Elementary School renovation project consisted of extensive demolition of the existing interior, as well as the in-filling of an existing pool in order to make space for additional learning areas. Bush Construction renovated classrooms, offices, music and art rooms, and bathrooms, as well as added a large media center.

The mechanical and electrical systems were completely replaced with highly integrated and efficient variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heating and cooling system and geothermal technology providing improved comfort while reducing energy consumption. Our project superintendents managed two shifts in order to maintain a fast-paced, 10-week long schedule. This fast-paced approach allowed the school to reopen on time with modernized spaces that support both academic and creative learning.

Jackson Square Apartments

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The 90-year-old, 50,000-square-foot renovation and addition to the Jackson Square Apartments transformed a former industrial manufacturing facility into modern, character-rich residential living. This project marked Bush Construction’s first entry into the multi-family residential market and was delivered in close collaboration with the architect and the Economic Growth Corporation to balance redevelopment goals, budget constraints, and long-term community impact.

The historic structure required extensive asbestos abatement and remediation of regulated materials throughout the building and surrounding storage areas. Wherever possible, original structural elements were preserved to maintain the building’s industrial character, including exposed brick walls and wood floor framing. The westernmost portion of the building—listed on Rock Island’s historic register—was restored through careful cleaning and tuck-pointing of terra cotta tile and brick, with special approvals obtained for historically sensitive window replacements.

Through coordinated efforts with economic development partners, what was once an urban brownfield has been revitalized into a vibrant center for family living and neighborhood commerce.

Davenport Community School District | Children’s Village West

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This Davenport Community School District project successfully converted the existing Davenport Museum of Art Building into a new Infant to Kindergarten daycare facility called the Children’s Village West. The project consisted of a complete interior demolition and remodel of all floors and also featured a large main entrance addition. All mechanical and electrical systems were upgraded. A complete fire alarm and sprinkler system were also added. The exterior facade was restored with all new windows, flashings, membrane roofing, and tuckpointing/caulking.

St. Ambrose University | North Hall

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This new, four-story student residence hall at St. Ambrose University eatures both apartment-style spaces, with four bedrooms, two baths, and shared kitchen and living areas—as well as traditional, dormitory-style rooms—with two bedrooms connected by a common Jack-and-Jill-style bathroom. It houses 204 beds.

Recycled content was used in the building products. An analysis was performed to determine the best energy-saving innovations to incorporate into the project. These innovations include energy-efficient windows, low-flow toilets, low-volume showerheads, high-efficiency boilers and chillers, motion-sensing lighting control, and high-efficiency lighting. These items had very short paybacks for the owner when calculated against the tremendous savings in energy consumption.

Bush Construction and the architect were able to team together very early in the project and worked hand-in-hand with St. Ambrose to ensure the design and the owner’s expectations always mirrored the original budget. Once the drawings were finalized, final bid packages were created and the project was competitively bid. The results of this competitive bid process, with detailed scopes and bid packages, returned over $350,000 back into the owner’s pocket in the form of returned savings. This money was placed into owner contingency until the end of the project and was later used to fund additional scope items the owner wished to add.

 

Mississippi Valley Surgery Center

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The Mississippi Valley Surgery Center and Endoscopy Center are outpatient facilities in Davenport, Iowa. Bush Construction was MVSC’s construction partner for numerous projects over six years.

The project consisted of building modernization both interior and exterior, build-outs to the Ear, Nose and Throat Professional Services, new restrooms and spaces in Iowa Women’s Health and the Plastic Surgery Center and renovation and build-out for Orthopedic Specialists.

The project also included the renovation of the existing space office with a new physician break room and sterile storage room, which required extensive coordination with HVAC tie-ins, for the Vascular Suite. In addition, Bush renovated the Orthopedic Specialists’ office in Clinton, Iowa.

The construction occurred in an active medical office environment, which included daily coordination with medical staff, as well as the building’s owner.

St. Vincent’s Sports Complex

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The St. Vincent Sports Complex is a 13-acre state-of-the-art athletic facilities project that was Assumption High School and St. Ambrose University’s master plan to enhance the experience of their current and future athletes.

The softball and competition fields portion of this project kicked off in August and was completed in May. Our construction team overcame the challenge of working outside, throughout the winter, by aggressively adhering to the schedule and through creative planning. Grass was growing on the softball field by October and the team worked through welding and sewing the artificial turf during the colder months.

The installation of a new softball field and two competition fields were completed using synthetic turf. The competition fields now accommodate soccer, football, and lacrosse. A new athletic training building, locker rooms, and a concession and restroom facility were also added along with bleachers and a new parking lot.

 

Quad Cities Multi-Modal Station

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The Quad Cities Multi-Modal Station was a renovation, plus an addition, to the old Sears warehouse. The station included a bus drop-off, bike parking, and future train station addition. Every detail had to be approved on a state and federal level as the development was a historic project with the National Park Service and Illinois Historic Society of Reconstruction.

Me & Billy

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The Me + Billy project consisted of three phases.  Phase one included the renovation of a space recently purchased by the owner.  This space expanded their ability to hold private parties.  The new event space, The Fairhaven, is one of a kind in the Quad Cities and features a wide range of unique finishes.

Phase two and three included updating the cooler, dish room and kitchen.  These updates allowed a better flow for back-of-house operations. We completed the kitchen remodel in four working days as it was imperative to provide minimal impact on the owners and their operations.

Our Savior Lutheran Church

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Our Savior Lutheran Church project included two building additions totaling 17,358 SF and the renovation of 5,022 SF of existing space. The first building addition connects to the existing Sanctuary. This addition created a larger Narthex, a large classroom with tiered seating, two additional classrooms, a kitchenette, restrooms, and a few other ancillary spaces. The second addition connects to the existing Fellowship Hall and is now utilized for youth education. This addition created seven new classrooms, a youth recreation room, and a few other ancillary spaces. The renovated space created three additional classrooms, two administrative offices, and a conference room.

This project had a few challenging aspects to overcome during construction. Initially, this project came in over-budget by approximately $450,000. Bush worked with the architectural team and subcontractors to reduce the overall project costs, and bring the project back within budget. The second hurdle was that the church is currently on a septic system, but as part of the project, the church is now connected to Davenport city services. The septic system was located beneath one of the new additions. Bush worked extensively with the architectural team and the subcontractors to create a phasing plan to make the new connection to the city without the church losing the use of this utility. Lastly, the soils at the building additions were unsuitable to withstand the loading of the additions, and intermediate foundations were needed to be installed. Bush worked with the earthwork contractor to create a site grading phasing plan to efficiently install the intermediate foundations without interrupting the flow of construction.

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