Project Updates and Completions

Skagit Valley contractors built a warehouse in Dutch Harbor, Aka.

Joshua Green Building Renovation Complete

The Joshua Green Building was one of the fi rst steel framed buildinings in Seattle. (Photo Credit: LCL)

Seattle – General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis has completed restoration of the 112,000 sq ft historic Joshua Green Building, in downtown Seattle.

Many of the historic features in the landmark 10-story building were unchanged since it was built in 1912, including terra cotta exterior, wood windows, the main lobby, and a stairway. Lewis refurbished and in many cases replicated new versions to match the existing elements. One office was “frozen in time,” providing a template for recreating historic elements such as window trim.

Terra cotta restoration included patching and cleaning pieces in place. A total of 178 damaged, unusable stones were recast to match the existing – a time-consuming, complex process involving shipping samples of 30 separate terra cotta designs to a specialty firm in Boston. The original center-pivot wood windows were removed and refurbished offsite. When necessary, this included recasting hardware, replacing glass, and replacing wood sash pieces.

Discharge Permit Fees Increasing Soon

Olympia – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has adopted fee increases that will affect holders of stormwater and wastewater discharge permits in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Ecology administers state and federal permits to regulate wastewater and stormwater discharges into Washington’s surface and underground waters. All permit holders are required to pay annual permit fees. Ecology uses the fee money to recover eligible costs associated with operating Ecology’s wastewater discharge permit program.

Fees will increase by 5.2% in the state’s fiscal year 2010, which began in July 2009, and by 4.6% in fiscal year 2011, beginning in July 2010.

The increases are in step with the state’s fiscal growth factor, which is a measure of the state’s population and economic trends.

Dutch Harbor Cold Storage Built By Skagit County Firm

Dutch Harbor, Alaska — Industrial Resources, Inc., has completed construction of Kloosterboer’s 80,000 sq ft cold storage facility in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Dutch Harbor, a small town in the remote Aleutian Islands, has no local access to lumber, hardware, steel or pipe so every component had to be pre-planned and ordered far in advance of needed delivery. Putting the facility together was like an international jigsaw puzzle because components came from around the world. IRI assembled all the components including steel from Asia, lumber from the U.S., a freezer unit that came as a kit and specially designed interlocking wall panels that came from different parts of Europe. IRI also encouraged a neighboring Skagit County company, Skagit Readymix, to send a mobile batch plant and three mixer trucks to Dutch Harbor to supply the high strength concrete for this and a number of other projects on the island.

Construction began on the building in March 2009 and was completed in six months despite severe spring storms and unusually cold weather. The 80,000 sq ft building is 50 feet tall, maintains a consistent -25ºC and can hold 20,000 tons of Alaska fish products, primarily Pollock.

New Hotel Slated For Lakewood Area

Lakewood - A new 83-unit Candlewood Suites, which broke ground recently, is slated for completion in September 2010.

To date, the city of Lakewood has invested more than $18 million to redevelop two-and-a-half miles of the Pacific Highway corridor resulting in property and roadway improvements making the area “ready to go” for new businesses. In addition to the new hotel, Lakewood Ford, LaQuinta Inn & Suites and Sound Transit have all built new facilities along Pacific Highway.