In conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence, we provide the following summaries of IMEG’s top 25 projects with historical or national significance—from sea to shining sea. (For a roundup of our top projects with local historic or community impact, click here.)

CALIFORNIA

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. Leon H. Nishkian, who founded the structural and civil engineering firm Nishkian & Associates in 1919 (which joined IMEG in 2019), was a consultant for the Golden Gate Bridge and designed its toll booths. He also consulted on the San Francisco Bay Bridge and several other San Francisco landmark buildings, and during World War II he devised a unique flotation system for “righting” the USS Arizona (sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor) to allow the remains of sailors to be retrieved from the wreck. Services: Structural

COLORADO

Linking Lookout, Golden. U.S. 6, originally dubbed the Grand Army of the Republic Highway to honor Civil War veterans, is the longest continuous U.S. Route in the country, running from Bishop, California, to Provincetown, Massachusetts. But in Golden, it separated the city’s east and west neighborhoods. This multi-award-winning project reconnects them with an earthen pedestrian plaza with native grass, trees, paved walking and bike trails, and a vehicle roundabout. Services: Civil

CONNECTICUT

West Haven Veterans Administration Medical Center Surgical and Clinical Tower. IMEG has a 30-year portfolio of healthcare design for the VA, VHA, Navy, Army, Air Force, and Indian Health Service— all with the goal of advancing care for military personnel and veterans. One of our latest projects is this $500M modernization of campus infrastructure and services that includes a new four-story surgical tower. It is targeting LEED Silver. Services: Structural, MEP, FP, Technology

FLORIDA

Naval Air Station Pensacola. The country’s first permanent Naval Air Station is home to the Blue Angels. After Hurricane Sally damaged 89 of its buildings, IMEG performed storm damage assessments, determined scopes of repair work, and developed repair procurement documents on a fast-tracked basis. Services: Structural, MEP, FP

ILLINOIS

Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. Designed with exterior architectural elements from the Doge’s Palace in Venice and built for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, the CAA operated as a men’s sports club for over 100 years; in the early days the White Ballroom had newly invented Edison bulbs for illumination and during Prohibition the Cherry Circle Room served as a speakeasy. The CAA closed in 2006 and remained shuttered until purchased by a new owner in 2012 for $13M. A $125 restoration turned it into a hotel in perhaps the finest adaptive reuse project in Chicago. Services: MEP, FP, Technology, Acoustics

National Cemetery, Rock Island. Established in 1863 on Arsenal Island, the site is the final resting place of soldiers who served in the Civil War, Mexican War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is one of 70 National Cemeteries for which IMEG has provided design and services, including the 16-acre National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu (built in an extinct volcano), the Louisiana National Cemetery in Zachary, and the 34-acre Fargo National Cemetery in North Dakota. Services: Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil

IOWA

The Historic Park Inn Hotel, Mason City. Completed in 1910, the Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in the world (of the six for which he was the architect of record). Over the years the hotel endured many changes that compromised Wright’s design, but a two-year restoration completed in 2011—including the adjacent City National Bank, also designed by Wright and now an event space for the hotel—restored the building’s historical integrity. Services: MEP, Technology, Architectural Lighting

MASSACHUSETTS

Josiah Smith Tavern, Weston. Built in 1757, the tavern’s original owner, Josiah Smith, was one of the “Liberty Men” who attended the First Massachusetts Provincial Congress in October 1774, where delegates planned for Massachusetts to separate from Great Britain. A tavern for 80 years and then a residence for three generations of the Jones family, the restored building now houses the offices of three local non-profit organizations. IMEG has provided design for two infrastructure upgrade projects, one completed in 2021 and another nearing end of design. Services: MEP, FP

MICHIGAN

The Henry Ford, Dearborn. Once the land of the Three Fires Council—the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi peoples—this historic landmark highlights not only the history of the Ford Motor Company, but 300 years of American innovation that has shaped the past and fuels the future. Illuminating Concepts, IMEG’s architectural lighting studio, developed custom streetlights that combine dual light sources, digital communication, and a hidden surround sound audio system into a park-wide, controlled network. Services: Architectural Lighting

MINNESOTA

Fort Snelling, St. Paul. This National Historic Landmark sits on Dakota homeland and has a history dating back 10,000 years. Completed in 1825, the fort served as a frontier post after the War of 1812, the center for U.S. government forces during the Dakota War of 1862, and as a recruiting station during the Civil War, Spanish American War, and both World Wars. Now restored to its original appearance, the fort provides re-enactments and tells the stories of the Native peoples, soldiers, enslaved people, and immigrants who have trod its land over time. Services: Security

Hoċokata Ti Cultural Center, Shakopee. Hoċokata Ṫi, the Dakota term for lodge at the center of the village or camp, is built into a hillside and overlooks a passing waterway, its wave-shaped roof resembling the movement of the land beyond. Its exhibits offer guests a cultural experience that expands their understanding of the Mdewakanton Dakota people and their history. Services: Structural

MISSOURI

Gateway Arch National Park and Old Courthouse, St. Louis. A $380 million public-private initiative of the National Park Service and the CityArchRIver Foundation included a new museum under the Gateway Arch and renovation of the 19th-century Old Courthouse—both on the grounds of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which commemorates Thomas Jefferson’s vision of the continental expansion of the U.S., evidenced by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The museum project won IMEG’s first ENR Global Best Project Award. Services: Structural, MEP, Technology, Security

National World War I Museum and Memorial, Kansas City. After World War I ended, Kansas City citizens built a monument to honor those who served in the war. The grounds of the memorial has been expanded to include a world-class museum and research center that contains the most comprehensive collection of World War I artifacts in the world. IMEG has worked on multiple projects there, including gallery, office, and volunteer-area renovations, and lighting projects. Services: MEP, FP, Commissioning

NEW YORK

Astoria Pool, Queens. Astoria Pool is the largest of 11 pools built in New York City by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 and was designated a New York City Landmark in 2006. Located in Astoria Park, the pool was the site of the Olympic swimming and diving trials for the 1936 and 1964 Olympics. (Holding 1 million gallons of water, it is actually larger than an Olympic pool). Following a year-long $19M renovation of the pool deck and pumphouse, the facility reopened in time for the 2024 season. Services: Structural, Civil, MEP

OKLAHOMA

Choctaw Cultural Center, Durant. The Choctaw were the first Indian Nation forced from their ancestral land to Indian Territory in Oklahoma under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Illuminating Concepts used theatrical style lighting to support the story of the culture and history of the Choctaw people, from ancestral times to today. Services: Architectural Lighting

PENNSYLVANIA

Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia. IMEG worked on a $1.4 million upgrade to improve pedestrian safety and improve stormwater management at the park, home to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, and the Merchant Exchange Building. Services: Civil, Surveying

The First Bank of the United States, Philadelphia. The First Bank of the United States was built in 1795 to house the first federal bank chartered by Congress in 1791. IMEG helped re-purpose the First Bank into a museum to interpret the history and evolution of the United States financial system. Services: MEP, FP, Security

SOUTH DAKOTA

Badlands National Park. The Badlands is a fossil-rich national park with sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, and the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The South Unit was once the reservation of the Oglala Sioux Indians; northern areas were originally Sioux territory. The South Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota tribe. IMEG helped renovate four fee operation entrance stations. Services: MEP

TEXAS

Juanita Craft Civil Rights House, Dallas. President Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Juanita Craft in her modest, one-story house to discuss the future of the civil rights movement. Craft played a crucial role in integrating two universities, the 1954 Texas State Fair, Dallas theaters, restaurants, and lunch counters, and started 182 rural NAACP chapters. Her house—recently restored following water damage—is a City of Dallas Landmark, a Registered Texas Historic Landmark, and part of the Wheatley Place National Register Historic District. Services: Structural

The Alamo, San Antonio. While best known as the site of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, the Alamo started its life in 1718 as a Spanish mission, existed under five flags of independent nations, and was a garrison for five armies over its 300-year history. IMEG is working on the Visitors Center and Museum project that will repurpose the historic Crockett and Woolworth buildings into a state-of-the-art facility that tells the Alamo’s complete history. Services: Structural, Commissioning

VIRGINA

National Museum of U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir. The museum honors more than 250 years of Army history, including the regular Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. IMEG provided SUE services after the museum received a donation of trees and required an acre of land be irrigated. Services: Subsurface Utility Engineering

FBI Central Records Complex, Winchester. IMEG provided civil engineering, surveying, and landscape architecture design for this award-winning project, which consolidated official records from 265 Federal Bureau of Investigation field offices into one facility dedicated to storage, retrieval, and management. Services: Civil, Survey, Landscape Architecture

WASHINGTON

Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum at Space Needle Park, Seattle. The glass-enveloped Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum features works by world-renowned glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. Opened in 2013, the 12,000-sf indoor gallery and exhibition space is surrounded by a 16,000-sf garden also featuring glass sculptures and installations. An existing structure was repurposed into exhibition space and a 4,500-sf glasshouse designed by Chihuly was added as the center’s focal point. The facility also contains a café, retail space, and theater. Services: MEP

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building. The Coast Guard headquarters is an 11-story building constructed on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhood. IMEG provided surveying, arborist and tree preservation services to help preserve the historic campus’ natural setting. Services: Civil, Survey, Landscape Architecture

World War II Memorial on the National Mall. In preparation for the U.S. 250th Independence Day celebrations, historic fountains and water feature systems have been rehabilitated at the World War II Memorial and six other highly visited sites across Washington, D.C.: Freedom Plaza, Columbus Circle, Sheridan Circle, Meridian Hill Park, John Marshall Park, and Rawlins Park. IMEG worked on these projects as part of the National Park Service’s NCR Fountain Rehabilitation Program. Services: MEP