The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Performance Utility Supply is currently supplying material to “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” theme park that will be located at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Besides a boost in tourism to the park, it will also generate jobs. Lots and lots of jobs. In the official news release from NBC Universal, their "Evolution Plan" for the 391-acre lot should stimulate $2 billion of economic activity in the region and create upwards of 30,000 jobs.

NBCUniversal Evolution Plan No Residential Alternative is a blueprint for the 391-acre Universal City property. Image Copyright 2013 - NBCUniversal

"After nearly a decade of work on the Evolution Plan, today’s vote sets the stage for our next 100 years in Los Angeles,” said Ron Meyer, president and COO of Universal Studios. “We are thankful for the support and leadership we have received from both the County and City of Los Angeles and are ready to get started investing in these important tourism and production projects in the next few months."

Concurrently, Orlando's “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will get an expansion. Since the Harry Potter attraction opened in, company executives have said attendance has jumped by about 50 percent, but did not give raw figures.

"It was a game changer for us and frankly for Orlando," said Meyer. "The expansion in Orlando will make it that much more of a must-see, and we'll have the same experience here."

At Universal Orlando, one of Diagon Alley’s shops is Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes - a vibrant shop featuring novelty items, magical jokes, and toys inspired by the books and films that will amaze the mischievous child in everyone. © 2014 Universal Orlando Resort. All rights reserved.

Executives did not immediately detail their plans for the Hollywood park, but Meyer said there was enough room to expand. Unfortunately, that meant saying bye-bye to music and hello to Hogwarts. The Gibson Amphitheatre (Universal Amphitheater to us old-timers) closed last September to make room for the new park.  

The similar attraction in Orlando took four and a half years to complete, and the Universal Studios project will probably take the same amount of time, suggesting a late 2016 opening.

So far, Performance Utility Supply has supplied the Universal Studios project with the following materials:

• Various sizes of GRC conduit, sweeps, segments, fitting and custom made nipples
• Various sizes of PVC conduit, sweeps, segments, and fitting
• Glue
• Tape
• Copper wire

HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR. 

Sources: https://media.universalorlando.com/multimedia/hpdetail.aspx?id=44093&ct=27761&Src=tcm:70-38229-64
http://nbcuniversalevolution.com/plan
https://media.universalorlando.com/HarryPotterNews/Default.aspx
http://insideuniversal.net/2014/04/universal-announces-ambitious-transformation-plan/

Air Treatment Facility at Mission Road and Jesse Street

In January, Performance Utility Supply began delivering materials to a Los Angeles based project for construction of a new sewer air treatment facility at Mission Road and Jesse Street.

Some fast facts about the project:

Location: 
Los Angeles, CA

Owner:
City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Sanitation

Construction Cost:
$16,500,000

General Contractor Contract Price:
$14,892,000.00

The above photo shows some of the current work being done on the facility. Image courtesy Jacobs Associates.

The project involves the construction and operation of a sewer air treatment facility (ATF) near the intersection of Mission Road and Jesse Street, at 651 South Mission Road, as well as the vacation of two street segments immediately adjacent to the project site. Near the intersection of Mission Road and Jesse Street, wastewater drops approximately 23 feet from the shallower North Outfall Sewer (NOS) to the deeper ECIS.

The turbulence created by this drop releases foul air. The ATF is intended to treat this foul air resulting from the turbulent flow. The ATF would treat foul air emitted from the ECIS and would include two-stage treatment, with biotrickling filtration (BTF) vessels as the first stage and activated carbon absorption as the second stage. The BTF vessels would remove hydrogen sulfide and some odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while the carbon units would remove the majority of the remaining VOCs and odors.

The project is to be constructed on approximately one-third of an acre and include three BTFs, four carbon units, one 25-foot tall exhaust stack, a fan building, a standby generator, a transformer, and a recirculation pit. These facilities would be located south of the existing Mission & Jesse drop structure located in the most northern area of the site.

Materials that Performance Utility Supply has begun delivering include ¾”, 1”, 1 ½”, 2”, 3”, 4” and 5” SCH40 & SCH80 conduit and fittings, various sizes of custom built sweeps, and low emission glue.

Jacobs Associates, an engineering company, is providing an on-site resident engineer to interface with the contractor and ensure that the project is completed on time and according to the specifications. The construction cost for this project is $16.5 million. This project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014.

For further project information, see the project descriptions for the city of Los Angeles’ wastewater improvement program, located at: http://lacitysan.org/fmd/WCIP/WCIPBook06-07.pdf