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Troy Weller has been visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory and getting ice cream cones there for as long as he can remember, so when the opportunity to get involved in the Tillamook Creamery project arose he jumped at the chance.

鈥淭he Tillamook Creamery visitor center is one of the聽most iconic landmark tourist attractions in Oregon and the Northwest. Who wouldn鈥檛 want their name on that?!鈥� said Weller, president of Precision Construction Co.

Work on the $18 million project began in April 2017 and was completed last June. The 38,500-square-foot center, built to accommodate as many as 15,000 to 17,000 visitors daily, replaced the original building and features an enhanced ice cream counter, a new coffee counter, an expanded gift shop, a larger caf茅 with indoor seating and an outdoor patio. Public spaces also include farm education rooms, a cheese production viewing gallery and tasting spaces.

Interactive features include research and development and sensory work spaces for focus groups. The project team made improvements to back-of-house services to help the Tillamook County Creamery Association keep up with the demands of its bustling food halls and marketplace. The project also included major seismic upgrades to protect against potential earthquake damage.

Weller said one of the biggest challenges was to take on a project on the Oregon coast during a busy economy with subcontractors in high demand.

鈥淎t the start of the project, we weren鈥檛 sure how willing the subcontractors would be to travel to Tillamook with there being an abundance of work in the Portland area, but as the plans developed and the excitement began to climb we had no problem getting coverage in every category to bid out the job,鈥� he said, adding Precision Construction engaged as many local subcontractors and suppliers as possible and hired three local residents who worked on the site for two years and still continue to work for the company.

Despite more than 100 inches of rain a year and a new building sitting on a bed of sand, the project team delivered the center two months ahead of schedule and well under budget. 鈥淚 was very worried from the start of the project until we got all the piling and structural concrete installed, but once we got to that point I knew we could get the rest of the building up and finished,鈥� Weller said.

He noted that the Tillamook County Creamery Association staff聽helped find housing and hotel rooms and helped enroll kids in school for all the workers sent to Tillamook to build the visitor center.

鈥淓ven though we were an out-of-town contractor, the Tillamook community really took us in,鈥� Weller said. 鈥淎nother rewarding part of this project was to get to know some of the local farmers who are part of the co-op and聽to hear about the history and passion of the dairy industry in Tillamook.鈥�

In addition to Precision Construction Co. and the Tillamook County Creamery Association, the project team included Olson Kundig Architects.