Construction to begin on hotel for Crystal Bridges (AP)

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Construction is to begin soon on a luxury hotel that will be designed to host travelers to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

The city has been upgrading water and sewer lines for the hotel. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports construction is to begin in mid-September.

The hotel will go up just north of Bentonville’s downtown square and will be walking distance from the museum.

The museum is bankrolled by the fortune of Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton and is to open in November. Several restaurants are also planned for the area.

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Asia booming with theme park, casino construction (AP)

HONG KONG – A rush of theme park construction across Asia that will result in new homes for Mickey Mouse, the Monkey King and Hello Kitty is also providing a financial lifeline for the world’s elite group of entertainment designers.

New theme parks, resorts and casinos are scheduled to open from Singapore to Seoul over the next several years as property developers and entertainment companies aim to draw Asia’s rapidly growing middle classes. They’re betting there will be a big market for family amusement rides, live shows and the chance to pose for a picture with Snow White.

The projects represent the next big growth area for skilled and experienced designers and creators as the North American market has become saturated and opportunities to design big new resorts have dried up.

“America has slowed down and Asia has kicked into higher gear. Especially China and Macau are really busy,” said Gary Goddard, a veteran architectural designer who drew up the masterplan for the Galaxy Macau, a $1.9 billion casino resort that opened in the southern Chinese city in May.

Goddard and many of his competitors are based in Southern California but they’ve been doing a lot more traveling to Asia lately to work on

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Daewoo wins major power plant Libyan project despite diplomatic row

South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. has said it had won a major power plant project in Libya despite a row over alleged spying by Seoul. Photo:Sascha Schuermann/AFP

South Korea's Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. said Friday it had won a major power plant project in Libya despite a row over alleged spying by Seoul.
      
       Daewoo on Thursday signed a contract in Libya with the state-run General Electricity Company of Libya to build a 750-megawatt power plant in Zwitina, some 140 km (87.5 miles) southwest of Benghazi, for 438 million dollars.
      
       The project will start in November this year and is to be completed by May 2013, the company said. It is the fourth major power plant contract Daewoo has won in Libya since 2003.