In the past ten years, Grunley Construction has renovated and modernized more than 4.8 million gross square feet of building space in the Washington, DC area.

News

  • December 12, 2019

    The commemoration of a WWI soldier’s journey begins

    Grunley selected to construct the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    Grunley is excited to have been chosen as the general contractor for the new National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C.! The Grunley Team was happy to participate in today’s construction launch ceremony where U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, Senator John Warner, U.S. World War One Centennial Commission Chair Terry Hamby and Admiral Michael Mullen were in attendance. The Grunley Team members present at the ceremony were Chip Scott, President; Ken Terry, Vice President of Operations; Mark Laudo, Vice President of Preconstruction; and Nick Albright and Victor McCoy who will serve as senior project manager and superintendent, respectively, of the National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C. construction.

    A century after the end of the War that Changed The World, the National Park Service has approved a building permit for the construction at the Memorial site, located on Pennsylvania Ave. at 15th Street NW, with work to begin soon. This phase of the project is expected to reach substantial completion and be open to the public in early 2021.

    The $22 million first phase will involve preservation and demolition of certain existing site features in the former Pershing Park, including incorporating the General John J. Pershing commemorative memorial that currently exists at the site into the new Memorial designed by architect Joseph Weishaar. The revitalized park site will feature new landscaping, lighting, and streetscape, as well as installation of a new reflecting pool and the pedestal wall that will eventually hold the heroic bronze “A Soldier’s Journey” sculpted by Sabin Howard that depicts American troops leaving their families, fighting, and caring for the wounded.

    The sculpture will be placed at the site during the second phase of construction, and it will be the largest freestanding high relief bronze sculpture in the Western Hemisphere.

    The Doughboy Foundation is building the new National WWI Memorial in Washington, D.C. with the authority of the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission.

    “We’re delighted to be a part of honoring the sacrifice of more than four million Americans who served during World War I with this new national memorial. It will be a beautiful reminder of their heroism, especially the nearly 120,000 soldiers who lost their lives in service to our country,” says Grunley’s president, Chip Scott.