Editor’s note: LBF’s interview executives at Calhoun Construction occurred a few weeks before Churchill Downs said it would pause plans for new upgrades at the track.

On April 9, with just 24 days until the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, John Hinshaw and Jeff Palmquist sat down in the grandstand of the newly constructed Starting Gate Club and gazed out over the legendary Churchill Downs Racetrack. But the Calhoun Construction executives weren’t taking a well-deserved rest.

Instead, they were moving from seat to seat, annoyed by a newly installed privacy fence at the fourth turn. “It will be difficult from here to see the horses make the turn,” said Hinshaw, Calhoun’s president. “I’ll remove some of the slats,” Palmquist, Calhoun’s project executive, responded.

And just like that, another leg was added to an entirely different kind of annual springtime race in the commonwealth.

Each year for the last decade, Louisville-based Calhoun has worked wire-to-wire to complete renovations, upgrades and entirely new buildings before the next Kentucky Derby — sometimes making last-second adjustments mere hours before the call to the post echoes down Central Avenue.

Last year, prior to the 150th Kentucky Derby, Calhoun pulled off a $200 million renovation of the Churchill Downs Paddock area, featuring new guest experiences like the Woodford Reserve Paddock Club and Club SI (Sports Illustrated.)

Calhoun also lowered the Paddock eight feet below ground level to offer tiered viewing, while increasing the space allocated for guest from 5,100 square feet to nearly 12,000.

The results were breathtaking, but one week before the Run for the Roses, Palmquist noticed a major snafu — the space for horses and people to exit and enter the Paddock viewing area was too small.

“Opening night is sort of a soft opening for whatever project we just finished and we will roam around to see what works and what’s not working. One thing that was not working [on the Paddock] was the rail where the horseman come in and out. It was so caught up and tight. We were sitting there looking at it like, ‘God, what do we do?,’” Palmquist said. “We stayed there that night and came up with a plan. Sunday morning and Monday morning [of Derby week] it was me and two of my best iron workers in our work clothes cutting those rails back, moving everything over. We got a new rail and had it all ready to go for Tuesday.”

“Stuff like that happens at the end of all these jobs because we’re going so fast.”

There have been a lot of jobs.

In the last 11 years, Calhoun has been involved in roughly 60 projects inside Churchill Downs ranging from the multimillion dollar Paddock to a $50,000 sidewalk improvement, Hinshaw said. Other projects include the $4.2 million owner’s suites, an $18 million renovation of the Turf Club and a $5 million rooftop lounge.

In total, Calhoun has overseen approximately a half-a-billion dollars in projects at the world’s most famous horse track, Hinshaw said. And there’s more to come.

Churchill Downs had planned to invest more than $900 million in track upgrades in the coming years — though the company recently paused those project due to economic uncertainty.

This year, Calhoun has to finish the home stretch of the $60 million Starting Gate Club project before hundreds of thousands of fans descend on Churchill Downs next week.

For Palmquist, who oversees all the work at Churchill Downs for Calhoun, that means he and his team have been working seven days a week since March.

That’s because a DNF (did not finish) isn’t an option in Calhoun’s annual race against time.

“We did the Homestretch project [three years ago] which was a breakneck pace from start to finish. Then we had the Paddock, which again was a breakneck pace for the 150th derby. When Starting Gate came up I thought, ‘Oh man, we’re finally going to get an easy one.’ It was going to be like a $50 million job. Nice and easy,” Palmquist said. “But it kept growing and growing after Derby to a larger and larger scope. Finally, we had to hit the brakes [on planning] and go, but we got started late.”

“[If] you see it [on April 9] you’ll think ‘How the hell are you going to get it done. But we have a plan. … There is no ‘no finishing.’ There is ‘find a way.’ … But this one more than most has been a challenge with keeping things going forward.”

Born from the Yum Center

Hinshaw may not have drawn up the plans to create Calhoun, but the Indianapolis native certainly played a big role in constructing it.

While working for other national construction firms, Hinshaw and several other members of the original Calhoun leadership team worked as lead project managers while building the KFC Yum Center in Downtown Louisville.

When the arena opened in 2010, everyone dispersed around the country to work on other sports and entertainment projects.

But when Indianapolis-based Wilhelm Construction founded Calhoun in 2013, Hinshaw jumped at the chance to return to Louisville.

“The main heart of the company was founded by people who want to be in Louisville. A bunch of us came to Louisville for business reasons, had families and then got shipped all over the country during the recession to do construction and then got the opportunity to come back to work for Calhoun and build this company,” Hinshaw said. “We all had kids and families and wanted to be back in Louisville.”

“He’s the founder of ‘The beast.’ He brought us all together,” Palmquist added, referring to John. “John was back here [first] and recognized that that group wanted to be back here and reached out to us.”

Twelve years later, that beast continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Calhoun’s revenue grew 156.24% from $100 million in 2021 to $256.2 million in 2023, good for No. 12 on Business First’s Fast 50 list of the city’s fastest-growing private companies.

In 2024, Calhoun’s revenue grew to $274 million with 200 total employees.

The company’s to-do list has grown, as well. In addition to Churchill Downs projects, Calhoun’s current projects include the Bardstown Aquatic and Sports Center, the new Algonquin Pool, the new Kentucky Humane Society headquarters, the renovation and expansion of Silver Creek High School and the new $27 million Louisville Metro Police Department headquarters, among others.

The key to Calhoun’s success, at least at Churchill Downs, has been understanding the customer’s expectations.

“They understand what Derby means to us. There’s always a hard deadline. There’s no, ‘I have a two week delay.’ It’s Derby week, you’re done. And they get it,” Churchill Downs President Mike Anderson said. “We’ve given them very difficult projects. But they get what this place is about. They can’t miss deadlines and they can’t screw up.”

The final turn

When the horses enter the starting gate for the 151st Kentucky Derby on May 3, Hinshaw and Palmquist will most likely be in the Calhoun company box — but earlier in the day there’s better than long-shot odds that they could be doing anything from replacing sinks to fixing televisions.

Members of Calhoun’s team stay on through the week of the big race to repair anything that breaks down around the track on race week, whether it was on a Calhoun project or not.

What is for sure is that more than 8,000 fans will witness the start of the Derby for the first time from the Starting Gate Club and Grand Pavilion.

The $60 million project replaces aluminum bleachers with a combination of 8,300 new seating varieties — including covered and uncovered stadium-style seats as well as rail boxes along the dirt track’s outer rail.

Other amenities include new and upgraded permanent concessions, bars, wagering windows and a covered outdoor garden. Some of those concessions will even depart from the track’s traditional “Churchill green” color scheme in favor of a pink decor.

Approximately 150 people per day have been working on the project six days per week since January, before bumping up to seven days per week in March. Thirty-four subcontractors are also working on the project.

“They will not have any time to twiddle their thumbs. They’ll be very busy.”