November 2008

ECI lands award Loveland construction management business
honored for work on parks, sports complexes

By Shelley Widhalm
Loveland Reporter-Herald
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As park projects became more complex, Loveland-based ECI Site Management expanded from a landscape contractor to construction management, a change that has helped the company earn a statewide contractor award.

The Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects named ECI as the 2008 Contractor of the Year for its service to the landscape-architecture industry. The company, which employs approximately 30 people, has been in business since 1980.

“It’s exciting to see they are being recognized today for their continued work in the field and success in completing excellent landscape projects,” said Robb Williamson, awards chairman for the association and landscape architect with DTJ Design Inc. in Boulder.

ECI started in 1983 as Environmental Concerns Inc. and focused primarily on landscape work. In 1996, the company became a construction manager that oversaw all aspects of construction, from preconstruction planning to the grand opening. The company changed its name in 2004 to ECI Site Construction Management.

“We evolved into bidding projects, not only landscaping but all aspects,” said Brian Peterson, president and founder of ECI. “It gave us a unique niche that has been obviously recognized by the landscape architecture community. They recognize we have experience with all these different types of scopes of work.”

ECI expanded in the mid-1990s as park projects became multifaceted with the addition of skate parks, in-line hockey rinks and other features, Peterson said.

ECI moved from landscape contract work to hiring contractors for all aspects of parks and sports complex projects, such as roads and bridges, restroom buildings and picnic shelters, he said.

“We don’t actually plant the plants, or put sprinklers in,” Peterson said. “We’re a construction manager that hires the landscaper to put in the work. ”

Over the years, ECI built several parks and sports complexes along Colorado’s Front Range, including the Loveland Sports Complex and Spring Canyon Community Park in Fort Collins, a project that received an award for outstanding park design from the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association.

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