Construction

Police said a construction worker fell from scaffolding at a construction site in the city's Fairmount section Monday afternoon and was pronounced dead at around 1:45 p.m. Authorities said the 30-year-old unidentified Hispanic male came in contact with a live wire while working on the third floor of a building under construction at Parrish and 20th streets and fell to the ground. A police spokeswoman said the exact cause of death was under investigation. A spokesman for the Medical Examiner's office could not be reached for comment.

A three-year, $66.2 million construction loan has been arranged through Wells Fargo Bank for Pearl Properties' Granary luxury multifamily project at 20th and Callowhill Streets in Philadelphia. The loan was arranged by the New Jersey office of commercial real estate adviser HFF Inc., which announced the financing. When completed in 2013, the Granary will have 227 one- and two-bedroom apartments averaging 842 square feet each, 20,654 square feet of ground-level retail space and underground parking.

Alfred E. Campellone, 85, founder of three Philadelphia construction firms and a horse rider in Masonic parades and wagon trains across the state, died Wednesday, April 4, of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Auburn, Schuylkill County. "He was more proud of his horse accomplishments than his work accomplishments," though they, too, were considerable, said James Brooks, who had worked with Mr. Campellone since the 1960s. Brooks is now vice president of SWERP Inc., a Miquon firm that Mr. Campellone founded in 1988.

Construction is set to begin on a $50 million project to expand sewage service in undeveloped sections of eastern Camden County, including portions of the Pinelands, laying the groundwork for 10,000 new homes. The county plan - paid for with a low-interest loan from a state environmental fund - comes as the region wrestles with tight municipal budgets caused by the real estate slowdown and shrinking property values. "That part of Camden County that has remained stagnant because of water and sewer issues," said Camden County Freeholder Jeff Nash.

Modular construction is not new to Philadelphia. A number of builders here have been using it, including Westrum Development Co. at its Hilltop at Falls Ridge in East Falls and the Arbours at Eagle Pointe in the Northeast. Developer David Perelman built 75 modular homes during the 2003-2006 real estate boom to keep up with demand. And developer Jeffrey Tubbs, for his first foray into home building three years ago, used modules for his Flats at Girard Pointe, near Girard Avenue and Third Street.

When a port with two ship berths opens late next year in Paulsboro, it will be the first new marine terminal in 50 years on the Delaware. Already, about $70 million has been spent to clear the site, construct a retaining wall on the shoreline, and haul and place 300,000 cubic yards of soil to raise the elevation of the 190-acre site, directly across from Philadelphia International Airport. The port is at a bend in the river, and thousands of cubic yards of sediment have been dredged to deepen the area to 40 feet to accommodate ships.

Chester County Hospital and Health System in West Chester is expanding with a $45.2 million, three-story building that will accommodate up to 72 private rooms and include a new piece of equipment for cancer treatment, the hospital said. Construction on the 93,000-square-foot building, to be paid for through a $25 million capital campaign and borrowed money, began last month. Initially, only one floor with 24 rooms will be completed. Construction is expected to last 18 months.

Two Bucks County business executives were sentenced and fined Thursday in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y., for tax evasion and the unlawful employment of illegal aliens, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday. John Cimino, 56, of Doylestown, and Anthony Cimino, 58, of Buckingham Township, were sentenced to six months home confinement and three years of supervised release for employing undocumented workers at LTCI Ltd., a Philadelphia construction company specializing in the refurbishment of movie theaters.

The blueprints for a seniors residential complex in Camden have shown Darrin Ferguson the way toward a career. "I've been unemployed for a while, and just looking at the plans and being out in the field have been great for me," says the father of three, who is shadowing construction-management professionals on the job. Standing in the handsome lobby of the just-finished seniors apartments on Ferry Avenue, Ferguson declares, "This got...

NEIGHBORS in South Philadelphia who worked all summer to restore the Manton Street Park can finally celebrate. The park's four lots had been purchased by a developer at a city auction of vacant and surplus property, but a deal has been reached to retain part of the land as a small "pocket park. " Hercules W. Grigos, the lawyer for the developer, US Construction, said his clients "had no idea this was a park. " "We had no idea of the neighbors' actions [fixing up the park]