News

Building on an existing successful relationship with the City of Waterville, Maine, Gorrill Palmer has received a signed contract from the City to perform a planning level feasibility analysis and cost estimate assessment for future transportation improvements at the Spring Street, Main Street and Water Street intersection.  The project is funded through a Planning Partnership Initiative between the City of Waterville and MaineDOT.   

Gorrill Palmer’s previous work on Waterville’s Trafton Interchange Project established a strong and positive rapport with the City.  Subsequent expansion of Gorrill Palmer’s Transportation Group, including the hiring of Don Ettinger, Vice President and Group Director has further increased our competitiveness in the marketplace as we are able to offer more extensive design services to our clients.   This combination of Gorrill Palmer’s historical strengths in traffic analysis with an expanded core of roadway design services has significantly improved our overall Transportation Services Qualifications, as demonstrated through this selection.  We acknowledge the efforts of everyone on our team involved in the preparation of this proposal and look forward to continuing to serve the City of Waterville.

Gorrill Palmer is pleased to announce that the newly renovated Food Court at the Lynnhaven Mall, located in Virginia Beach, has reopened for business.  The renovated Food Court is Phase 1 of a multi-million dollar, multi-phased modernization project planned for the Lynnhaven Mall.   The Lynnhaven Project commenced in June, 2013 and is Gorrill Palmer’s first project in Virginia. With in excess of 1.1 million square feet of space and over 6,000 parking spaces, the mall is centrally located in Virginia’s most populous city, Virginia Beach. The Norfolk/ Virginia Beach market is the largest market between Washington, DC, and Charlotte, NC.  In 2013, General Growth Properties (GGP) began a comprehensive renovation of the mall to enhance the interior design and provide for two revitalized entrances that will strengthen the link with AMC Theatres, a major anchor tenant, and to provide new leasing opportunities. 

Gorrill Palmer is currently in the process of permitting Phase 2, which redevelops a former two-story anchor tenant structure while adding a new lifestyle component to the Mall including an interactive play area.  Our staff’s efforts to effectively guide the project through the permitting process in a timely fashion has allowed GGP to meet all of their current leasing obligations, established over a year in advance.  This responsiveness to our client’s needs serves as a superb example of Gorrill Palmer’s ability to effectively manage the design/permitting of large multi-phase projects in the mid-Atlantic and to partner seamlessly between our Maine and Virginia office locations.

Gorrill Palmer submitted a lengthy qualifications package to MaineDOT in response to their request for qualifications for the award of General Consultant Agreements (GCAs).  In submitting the qualifications package, Gorrill Palmer hopes to become either Pre-Qualified or receive a GCA in several service lines such as Highway Design, Traffic Analysis, Landscape Architecture and Bridge Design (Large Culverts).

Preparation of the qualifications package was led by Don Ettinger, Vice President and Principal Partner at Gorrill Palmer. Don was assisted by Lauren Meek, Randy Dunton and Brandon Havu from the Transportation Group and they were responsible for the overall production of the package, with the support and collaboration of other staff across disciplines. The entire Gorrill Palmer team acknowledges Don, Lauren, Randy and Brandon for their efforts in producing such a high quality, competitive package, while continuing to effectively meet their other project demands. MaineDOT’s review process will take several months.

Gorrill Palmer is proud to announce that Alton Palmer, PE has been named the firm’s President.  A founding partner of the firm, Al also oversees the Land Development Group, and has been an integral part of the direction and growth of the firm since 1998.

As President, Al’s responsibilities at Gorrill Palmer includes management of the Maine and Virginia offices, firm operations, including day to day activities of the corporation and project management of the Land Development Group projects.  He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Other recent management changes at Gorrill Palmer include:

• Thomas Gorrill, PE, PTOE has been named Director of Business Development.  As Director of Business Development and one of the Founding Partners of Gorrill Palmer, Tom is responsible for seeking out new business opportunities, coordinating and implementing the firm’s marketing plan, developing proposals in response to requests for proposals, and serving as a Technical Advisor for transportation projects at the firm headquarters in Gray, Maine.
• Will Haskell, PE directs the firms Municipal Group.
  A Vice President and Principal, Will has been with Gorrill Palmer since 2002.  Will brings twenty five years of experience in municipal services, site development, stormwater management, drainage and hydraulics throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California and Colorado.
• Don Ettinger, PE directs the firms Transportation Group.  A Vice President and Principal with the firm, Don has been with Gorrill Palmer since 2012.  Don brings over twenty years of experience to the company, specializing in the design, engineering and feasibility analysis of roadway, bridge, traffic, rail and site improvement projects.  Don has worked with a wide range of public and private sector clients throughout New England, including serving as a project manager for in-house MaineDOT projects.