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Construction volume to dip. The nonresidential construction industry is operating at all-time high volume, and won't be severely hurt by the current economic slowdown—assuming that it is short-lived, predicted Jay Bryson, an economist with Charlotte-based First Union Corp. at a recent Construction Writers Association meeting. Work volume will decline by 2.5 percent in late 2001 and by 5 percent in early 2002, he added, but low inflation rates and the federal budget surplus should make the dip a shallow one.
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Met rejoins Lincoln Center. The Metropolitan Opera, which in January withdrew from the proposed $1.5 billion renovation project of New York City's Lincoln Center, agreed last month to participate—at least in creating a master plan. An agreement between Lincoln Center's 12 constituent groups stipulates that the project "shall be automatically ended" if any rejects the master plan.
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Seismic guidelines for steel-framed buildings. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued recommendations for designs of steel structures in earthquake-prone areas, after a six-year study on failures of welded column/beam connections during the 1994 Northridge, Calif., tremor. Visit www.fema.gov.
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"Leadership academy" lagging. Coast Pacific Construction Co. is being sued by the San Francisco Unified School District for its work on a model school spearheaded by the district and the local 49ers football team. Four years after its conception, the 49ers Leadership Academy is mired in cost overruns, subcontractor stoppages and now, litigation.
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Rooftop theater dropped. Reflecting continuing contraction among movie-theater chains, the $70 million renovation of 25-year-old Ridgmar Shopping Center, Fort Worth, Texas, no longer includes an 18-screen AMC movie theater on its roof.