Nobody seemed to mind, though, when Richard Petty pulled his 1974 Dodge Charger onto the ceremonial plaza, with Junior Johnson trailing in a 1940 Ford. The two members of NASCAR’s inaugural Hall of Fame class climbed from the cars they are most associated with to a rousing ovation.

“This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Johnson said of being part of the first induction class.

Started in 1948, the National Association of Stock Car Racing finally opened its Hall of Fame on Tuesday with a star-studded ceremony.

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue joined Charlotte area dignitaries and representatives of NASCAR’s past and present on a stage outside the Hall for the hour-long opening ceremony. After Johnson and Petty’s arrival — Petty in a replica of his No. 43 STP Dodge, and Johnson in a No. 3 Ford that read “Carolina Moonshine” — several past champions scanned their entrance cards to officially open the doors.

“If you’re going to be a top-five sports league in this country, you need to have a world-class Hall of Fame,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said. “It’s going to be a place where our fans can come and celebrate and look back at the history of the sport. We haven’t really had that in a formal way all these years, and this is going to change that overnight.”

The city spent $195 million on the project and is touting it as the biggest and most technologically advanced Hall of Fame in professional sports. The 150,000-square-foot building is a shrine of memorabilia, exhibits that recreate old-time NASCAR lore, 154 video screens, racing simulators and interactive activities.

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, who helped the city of Charlotte with its winning bid for the rights to the Hall of Fame in 2006, spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony and was one of the first visitors to tour the facility after the doors opened.

“I just think if you don’t hold on to history in anything, that it doesn’t mean much,” Hendrick said. “The fact that we can showcase our history in such a great setting is going to pay us huge dividends down the road because new fans ought to know about Junior Johnson and they ought to know Buck Baker and those kind of guys. And they ought to be able to see the old cars.

“I think a fan walks away knowing we care about our past and our history.To me, that’s what’s important — that our history, our roots and our heritage is important. It’s not all just about today.”

The inaugural class, elected by 50 voters last year, is: NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., longtime chairman Bill France Jr., seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, Johnson and Petty. The induction ceremony is May 23. (Continued)

Petty believes the timing is perfect for NASCAR to start its Hall of Fame.

“You’ve got to figure to have a Hall of Fame, you’ve got to have some history,” he said. “NASCAR is just 60 years old, so it took them a while to accomplish history. If they had one 25 years ago, they wouldn’t have had a lot of stuff to put in it.”

Several active NASCAR drivers participated in the opening ceremony, while others toured it later Tuesday on their own.

“I like the history of it, because I don’t know a ton of history about the sport,” said Kasey Kahne, who was born in 1980 and came through sprint-car ranks into NASCAR. “You can gather that information pretty quick in there. It’s pretty neat from the old cars, to the old suits, the write-ups, the videos. It’s neat for the fans, too, because they get to see things that they only see on TV.

“I just think it’s awesome. They did a great job.”

NASCAR had several of its champions on stage during the ceremony, but noticeably absent were four-time champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and two-time champion Tony Stewart.

Also missing was Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose father is in the first class. His stepmother, Teresa, was on stage during the opening ceremony.

Stewart was testing Tuesday in Virginia, his spokesman said, while representatives for Earnhardt, Gordon and Johnson said the drivers had previous commitments and planned to attend inauguration week activities.

Hendrick, the car owner for Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt, said his organization was surprised by the fanfare of Tuesday’s opening.

“To be honest, we thought this was going to be a loose kind of thing,” Hendrick said. “If we had known it was going to be this big, I would have asked them all to be here.”

Petty felt the present-day stars should have been in attendance.

“The museum is for the has-beens, the people that made things happen,” Petty said. “You gotta figure, without these guys, there wouldn’t be a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Gordon. Some of the guys came out [Tuesday], and they recognize that they are in between and they were interested in coming out to see what was going on.

“I feel good that they came, but when we look at Jimmie and Jeff — yeah, they should be here. Eventually they will be in the Hall of Fame and they should be here for the inaugural deal to see what it’s all about and to see why they are the heroes today and see that Junior Johnson, Fireball Roberts and Lee Petty made all this happen for them.”



The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for evaluating sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, material and resource selection and indoor environmental quality.

Developed by Trinity Capital Advisors of Charlotte, N.C., 440 South Church is a 15-story, 365,000 square foot office tower that recently opened in downtown Charlotte. Home of Ally Bank and HDR Engineering, 440 South Church is the first Core and Shell building in the state of North Carolina to receive Gold certification.

“LEED Gold is a big step in our process of creating and maintaining a sustainable Class-A Office Building,” said Sherrie Chaffin, who directed the 440 South Church project for Trinity Capital. “Our project team worked hard to design and build a LEED Gold facility as well as put tools in place to monitor, measure and evaluate all of our building systems. These features will provide a quality environment for our tenants and ensure our building continues to operate at the Gold Level standard we have set today.”

A key factor in winning LEED Gold at 440 and an example of the team’s ongoing commitment to sustainability is the building’s Enhanced Energy Monitoring.

“The Enhanced Energy Monitoring system provides us with a better knowledge of how energy is used within our facility and helps us identify ways to improve efficiency, minimize waste and reduce energy consumption,” said Jay Coombs, Trinity’s Director of Technical Resources. “In one year, the Lighting Control System alone will save us the equivalent of 6.1 million household lamp hours and reduce the building’s overall carbon footprint.”

“We sought to build a building that is all about tenants, and tenants want to be in office buildings that are sustainable,” remarked Gary Chesson of Trinity Capital. “In that regard, we are delighted have been awarded the LEED Gold Certification by the USGBC.”
In addition to Trinity Capital Advisors, the 440 project team consisted of: Bovis Lend Lease, Inc. (General Contractor), Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc. (Architect), Jordan & Skala Engineers, Inc. (MEP Engineers), ColeJenest & Stone, P.A. (Civil Engineers), The Epsten Group, Inc. (LEED Project Consultant), and System WorCx , PLLC (Building Commissioning Agent).

Trinity Capital, with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, is a private real estate investment company focused on providing superior risk adjusted returns and capital appreciation to its high net worth and institutional investor partners through selective development, acquisition and redevelopment of office, industrial and mixed use real estate throughout North and South Carolina. To date, Trinity Capital has acquired, developed or is currently developing a portfolio of office, industrial and mixed use properties totaling 2,800,000 square feet with an aggregate cost of $251 million.

Size of project: Total:  200,000 SF

Construction cost: $80 million

Phases of Cx: Design Development through Post-Occupancy

Project Description:

Project includes a new 11-story addition onto the Duke North Hospital, and a multi-phased renovation for the Surgery Suite, plus a new rooftop heliport.  The addition will include office, laboratory, and support space.  The renovation will include phased construction for new and renovated operating rooms, laboratory PACU, sterilization, and support areas.  System WorCx is commissioning HVAC, emergency power, plumbing, medical gas, fire alarm, and jet fuel systems.

The project commissioned systems included:

• Open-Protocol Building Automation System integrated into hospital control system.
• Central air handling units with HEPA filtration and DDC-controlled variable air volume reheat air terminal units.
• Fume hood exhaust system for laboratory spaces.
• Variable volume chilled water and heating hot water.
• New Automatic Transfer Switches tied to existing emergency power system.
• Normal and Emergency Power Distribution systems, including new substation.
• Medical and laboratory gas systems.
• High-rise fire alarm systems.
• Fire pump and fire protection systems.
• Jet fuel, foam fire suppression, and ice melt systems for heliport.

System WorCx Scope of Work:

System WorCx was hired as a third-party commissioning firm contracted directly to the Medical Center.  Commissioning includes HVAC and controls, normal and electrical power, fire protection, medical and laboratory gas and vacuum, plumbing, and heliport systems. Scope includes design phase work (design reviews, specifications, etc.), construction phase work (submittal reviews, site observations, meetings, checklists, testing, etc.), and post-occupancy work (occupant surveys, followup testing and trending, opposed season testing, warranty punchlist, etc.).

Overview

Opening May 11, 2010 in Uptown Charlotte, the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, includes artifacts, interactive exhibits, 275-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, Sports Avenue retail outlet and NASCAR Media Group-operated broadcast studio. The five-acre site also includes a privately developed 19-story office tower and 102,000-square-foot expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center, highlighted by a 40,000 square-foot ballroom. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is owned by the City of Charlotte, licensed by NASCAR and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.

The Building

Our goal has been – and continues to be – to create the “crown jewel” of Charlotte and the very best Hall of Fame-themed entertainment experience in the world,” said Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. “This Hall of Fame will expand the dynamic and growing sport of NASCAR racing in a dynamic and growing city. It’s a victory not only for the Charlotte region, but for NASCAR fans across the country and internationally. We look forward to welcoming all fans for a unique and entertaining experience.”

With the Grand Opening scheduled for May 11, 2010, this state-of-the-art facility will honor NASCAR icons and create an enduring tribute to the drivers, crew members, team owners and others that have impacted the sport in the past, present and future.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held in January 2007 and construction began in May 2007. Building design concepts have been completed and exhibit themes and interior layouts are nearing completion. Among the elements being considered for the NASCAR Hall of Fame are:

• Approximately 40,000 square feet of exhibit space showcasing the history and heritage of the sport.
• Ceremonial Plaza: Exterior site for induction ceremonies.
• High Octane Theater: A 278-seat state-of-the-art theatre featuring informational film about the history of NASCAR. Available for after hours group rentals.
• The Great Hall: Large, open, greeting area just inside the facility which will include rotating displays and lively video scenes and graphics.
• Glory Road: Banked ramp leading to the second floor of the facility featuring 15-18 historic cars and highlighting 40 current and historic tracks.
• Hall of Honor: Space where NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees will be honored.
• NASCAR Vault: Glass-enclosed section of the facility housing historic artifacts from NASCAR’s past.
• Race Week: A behind-the-scenes look of what a NASCAR team and the NASCAR industry goes through to prepare a car for raceday.
• Transporter: A full-size transporter, giving visitors a first-hand look at the team’s nerve-center at the track.
• Racing Simulator: A state-of-the-art attraction giving visitors a driver’s experience and perspective on raceday.
• Heritage Speedway: Individual galleries telling the story of NASCAR’s exciting 60+ year history.
• Honoring Our Legacy Theater: A memorial area where visitors can honor and reflect on heroes no longer with us.
• Restaurant and Retail Outlets.
• TV & Radio Studios and NASCAR Newsroom