Sanford, FL – May 16, 2016 – Amid the sounds of baseball bats cracking, cheering fans, laughing kids, and an impressive fireworks display, representatives from Seminole County gathered with Wharton-Smith, HKS Architects, CPH Engineers and excited community members to celebrate the grand opening of the Seminole County Sports Complex. The celebration kicked off the USSSA Florida State Baseball Championship, a three-day tournament featuring 85 teams from across Florida.

Chairman John Horan of the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners opened the ceremony pronouncing with a smile on his face “We had our own field of dreams, and now it is…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – May 16, 2016 – Wharton-Smith, Inc., one of Central Florida’s largest locally based general contractors, has been selected to redevelop Soldiers Creek Park into a state-of-the-art softball complex designed to attract top-notch regional and national tournaments. The $7.2 million redevelopment is part of the Seminole County’s ongoing efforts to build new sports facilities for its residents, as well as to bring in thousands of new visitors to the area who will support local businesses.

The redeveloped softball complex will include six 220-foot natural turf fields and a hospitality building with meeting space, offices, concession area and restrooms.…

Read More...

Baton Rouge, LA – April 26, 2016 – Liberty Lagoon, one of Baton Rouge’s most popular water parks is expanding and Wharton-Smith is bringing the project to life! A groundbreaking ceremony for the $3.5 million expansion was held Saturday, April 23 to signify the start of construction. More than 200 park guests, including the park’s mascot Life Guard Lily, were in attendance. Representatives from BREC, the award-winning agency that operates public park recreation facilities and programs throughout East Baton Rouge Parish, welcomed the crowd and generated excitement for the project.

The project features the Flow Rider, a simulated ocean wave…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – April 20, 2016 – More than 200 community members, students, and representatives from Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) gathered on Saturday, April 16, 2016 to commemorate the historic groundbreaking of the new OCPS middle school to be built off Wewahootee Road in the South Orlando community known as Lake Nona.

Referred to as Site 52-M-SE-2 Relief Middle School, the project consists of a 171,033-square-foot, three-story prototype located on a 26-acre site. The new middle school campus is being built to accommodate overcrowding at the existing middle school due to rapid population growth in the Lake Nona…

Read More...

Division Manager Todd O’Donnell helped set the plan for a playground in motion more than seven years ago. His 11-year-old daughter Katherine has been a student at LaVoy since the age of three and he wanted to help the school obtain a playground specifically built for the students.

In April of last year, Wharton-Smith donated $5,000 towards the design and provided pro bono general contracting services to pour the concrete slab and construct handicap ramps.

Last week, the Tampa team worked with local vendors to complete the final landscaping and beautification of the site. The project included demo work,…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – March 30, 2016 – Wharton-Smith, Inc., one of Central Florida’s largest locally based general contractors recently celebrated the completion of the $5 million renovation project for the University of Central Florida’s Business Incubation Program. More than 100 guests gathered, including Congressman John Mica, representatives from the Office of Economic Development for Orange County, members of the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce, and Directors of the UCF Business Incubation Program for a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the grand opening of the newly renovated facility.

“This is where business starts and opportunity is created,” remarked Congressman Mica at the…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – March 17, 2016 – Wharton-Smith joined with students, faculty and donors of the University of Central Florida’s Athletic Department to cut the grand opening ribbon on the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership, the new headquarters for student-athlete personal, professional and academic development.

Located next to UCF’s award-winning Bright House Networks Stadium, also built by Wharton-Smith, the three-story, 21,700 s.f. facility includes offices, computer labs, conference space, a multi-purpose classroom which will hold 200 students, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space, and resource rooms.

“This beautiful facility puts us right on par with the top athletic…

Read More...

March 11, 2016 – Sanford, FL – Wharton-Smith was highlighted in the March issue of Florida Trend magazine as a “Company to Watch.” The magazine reports, “The Sanford-based construction company has a long history of developing major projects in metro Orlando and is thriving in the midst of the current building boom.” Read the full article here.…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – February 16, 2016 – Wharton-Smith joined with Osceola County Commissioners, Fire Chief Robert Sorenson, architect C.T. Hsu + Associates, and community members, on February 15 to break ground on the County’s new Fire Station 64.

Commissioner Brandon Arrington welcomed the crowd and applauded the efforts of everyone involved in the project for improving public safety for the citizens of Osceola County. For the past 15 years, Osceola County Fire Station 64 has operated out of a makeshift station consisting of a trailer and shed. During intense storms with high winds fire crews were forced to evacuate to…

Read More...

Sanford, FL – January 29, 2016 – Wharton-Smith officially broke ground January 26 on the City of Casselberry’s 20-acre Lake Concord Park development. Touted as a new gateway to Casselberry, the mixed-use project will feature luxury apartments, restaurants and retail, with public gathering areas, playgrounds, pathways and lakes.

The project is being developed as a public/private partnership between the city, its community redevelopment agency, and private developers. As construction manager, Wharton-Smith will oversee all site development and infrastructure for the $34 million project. Casselberry Mayor Charlene Glancy compared the development to the highly successful Baldwin Park community. “This ‘vision’…

Read More...