Balfour Beatty Construction Selected as General Contractor for New Museum of Nature & Science Facility at Dallas’ Victory Park

Dallas, TX, May 20, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Balfour Beatty Construction has secured a contract with the Museum of Nature & Science to serve as construction manager for the new facility to be built in Dallas’ Victory Park. The 160,000-square-foot museum, which will be named the Perot Museum of Nature & Science, is scheduled to break ground late 2009 and be complete in early 2013.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis, the building will be constructed on a 4.7-acre site at the northwest corner of Woodall Rodgers Freeway and Field Street adjacent to Victory Park. The facility will include environmentally sustainable features and is envisioned as a dynamic environment with interactive displays and educational galleries.

The structure will complement the Museum’s existing Fair Park facilities and allow the Museum to better accomplish its mission to “inspire minds through nature and science” by showcasing a wider spectrum of its valuable collections, incorporating modern technology, hosting world-class traveling exhibitions, and expanding its educational programs. Upon completion, the state-of-the-art Museum is expected to help revitalize the economy in downtown Dallas.

“Balfour Beatty is an internationally renowned firm with a stellar reputation, and we’re extremely excited to work with them on the new Perot Museum of Nature & Science,” said Nicole Small, CEO of the Museum of Nature & Science.

Over the past 35 years, Balfour Beatty Construction has built more than 13 million square feet of public assembly projects throughout the United States, including museums such as the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA; the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VA; the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, TX; and the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville, FL.

“The Museum of Nature & Science has done incredible work with its educational programs and exhibitions, and I am excited that Balfour Beatty Construction has this opportunity to help the museum fulfill its mission and enrich our community,” said Robert Van Cleave, Chairman and CEO of Balfour Beatty Construction.

About Balfour Beatty Construction
Balfour Beatty Construction has been a leader in the U.S. commercial construction industry for 76 years, providing general contracting, at-risk construction management, design-build, preconstruction, public/private and turnkey services for clients nationwide. The company employs 1,600 professionals and is part of London-based Balfour Beatty plc, a leading international engineering, construction, and investment business exceeding $16 billion in annual revenues. For more information, visit www.balfourbeattyus.com.

About the Museum of Nature & Science
The Museum of Nature & Science – the result of a unique merger in 2006 between the Dallas Museum of Natural History, The Science Place and the Dallas Children's Museum – is a non-profit educational organization located in Dallas' Fair Park. In support of its mission to inspire minds through nature and science, the museum delivers exciting, engaging and innovative visitor experiences through its education, exhibition, and research and collections programming for children, students, teachers, families and life-long learners. The facility also includes the TI Founders IMAX® Theater and a cutting-edge digital planetarium. The Museum of Nature & Science is supported in part by funds from the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, the Texas Commission on the Arts and EDS. To learn more about the Museum of Nature & Science, please visit www.natureandscience.org.

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