Major WSU Pullman construction projects outlined

The following information provides a list of major construction projects from both Capital Planning and Development and Facilities Operations and Construction Management.

 

 

 

Olympia Avenue Student Housing

 

Graham Construction and Management, Spokane, broke ground the second week of May on the campus’ newest student housing facility. Louise Sweeney, project manager with Capital Planning and Development, said contractors are on a tight schedule with this project. “We have 15 months to construct the actual building,” she said.

 

Mithun, the Seattle-based architectural firm, is still working on the construction documents for the project, but Sweeney said they anticipate final drawings by the end of June. In the mean time, managers at Graham Construction are moving forward with the first bid package, which includes site utilities and mass excavation.

 

 

 

Construction for the new Biotechnology-Life Science building on Stadium Way is on Schedule and on budget. “Contingencies are holding up just the way we were hoping,” said Virgil Hanson, project manager with Capital Planning and Development. Tenants are expected to move in August 2009.

 

Hanson said one of the biggest challenges lies in commissioning the building. The research laboratories equipped with gas, air, industrial water loops, differential air pressures, and in some cases, emergency back-up power, can become very complicated, he said. “One of our challenges will be to make sure all systems integrate properly for the various operational modes,” Hanson said.

 

 

 

The practice course opened May 5 but Course Co, Golf Course Management company doesn’t anticipate a grand opening until sometime near Aug.1. “It’s still under staged-construction,” said Sweeney. Contractors Oliphant Golf faced difficult weather last year, and seeding on the back nine holes didn’t grow in before the winter.

 

This year, construction and grown in is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as Course Co waits for “some rain and good weather,” Sweeney said.

 

 

 

“Clubhouse construction is approximately 65 percent complete and coming along quite well,” said Terry Baxter-Potter, project manager with Capital Planning and Development.

 

Due to a difficult winter, construction inched along, pushing the completion date from June to July. Now, thanks to good weather, momentum has gathered and a grand opening for the pro shop and restaurant is anticipated for Aug. 1.

 

 

 

“This has been a challenging project,” Sweeney said. “But development is in the wrap-up stages.” Construction is on schedule and facilities will be open and ready for Fall football season.

 

Currently, the ticket building is receiving the biggest push, Sweeney said. Developers plan to have ticket vendors in the building by early July for season ticket sales.

 

 

 

So far construction hasn’t encountered any setbacks in timeline or budget, said James Stone, construction engineer with Capital Planning and Development.

 

“The biggest difficulty we face is working in the middle of campus,” he said. “The difficulty is in pedestrian and vehicular traffic at the intersection of Terrell Mall and Library Road.”

 

The two season project recently finished the first critical stage in development. “We are done with the major infrastructure,” Stone said. This includes chilled-water systems for air conditioning, and storm lines that handle surface water from rain and snow.

 

Phase two for the project begins June 20 and is scheduled to end the second week in September. Construction will focus on upgrading low-pressure waterlines, stairways, sidewalks and landscaping.

 

“This will basically fence off the core of the campus,” he said. This includes all of Murrow Hall yard, from the Hello Walk, to the Glenn Terrell Mall. Running north and south, the sidewalk in front of the Administration Annex, to the turnaround at Van Doren Hall will be fenced off. “We’ll be moving fences along the way,” Stone said.

 

“Essentially, we’ll shrink the construction site so that people can walk through.” Work that will continue into Fall Semester includes: trees and shrubbery planting, select concrete work such as walk ways and retaining walls, and preparation staging for the following season of work.

 

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With each tick of the countdown clock, the CUB inches closer to opening. “Everything is coming right along,” said Jeff Lannigan, project manager with Capital Planning and Development. “Right now we’re pretty much waiting on the tenants to get in there.”

 

It’s all downhill from here as construction crews take advantage of the warm summer weather. “Mud is not what we need at this point, especially after a long winter,” Lannigan said.

 

 

For more information on Capital Planning and Development projects click here.

 

 

Facilities Operations and Construction
Management Projects:

 

Stephenson Residence Hall, Towers East and South

 

The construction refurbishment work is being managed and performed by Lydig Construction of Spokane. Larry Gropp with Facilities Operations led the team a of WSU people from Housing Services and Facilities Operations to plan and design the work.

 

The goal of the project is to modernize the interior functional space and will include removal and replacement of all the dorm room furniture in each tower and increasing the size of the common use areas, said Mike Sturko, director of construction services division with Facility Operations. The work includes new flooring, paint, and bathroom partitions.

 

 

 

Facility Operations is managing an exterior preservation and restoration project for Wilson Hall. The construction work is being managed and performed by Pioneer Masonry Restoration of Seattle.

 

Patty Bergstedt with Facilities Operations led the team to design construction requirements that include: top to bottom cleaning, tuck pointing and sealing of the masonry veneer and removing the existing terracotta cornices and fascia systems at the roofline, reinforcing structural attachments and installing a new system to match theold.

Construction will have an impact on the pedestrian traffic in, out and around the exterior of the building.

 

Sturko said emphasis will be placed on completing the north side of the building to coordinate with the grand opening of the CUB and Wilson Mall scheduled for the start of the fall semester. Construction on other sides of the building will continue into the fall of 2008.

 

 

 

A total of 19 classrooms in College, Todd and Wilson-Short hall will receive upgrades to their audio visual capabilities.  The construction work is being performed by RRACO Construction of Spokane.

Dave Kimbrel with Facility Operations managed the design team for this project that included people from the WSU Classroom oversight committee, Institutional Support Services and Information Technology. The construction work for this project was scheduled so that the impact for users on the space would be minimal, Sturko said.

 

 

 

Substantial upgrades will be done to the heating ventilation and air conditioning systems throughout Johnson Tower. The construction work is being performed by RRACO Construction of Spokane. Aaron Donnelly with Facility Operations managed the design team from Meulink Engineering of Spokane.

 

Almost all the useable space in the building will be impacted by construction activity, Sturko said.  There will be a significant amount of coordination required with moving the occupants of the building in and out of space to allow access for construction workers.  Each space will be out of service for approximately 3 weeks.