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In Beaverton, an unusual transformation is taking place: a former restaurant is becoming a school.

General contractor Joseph Hughes Construction is finishing a renovation of a single-story, 4,000-square-foot, wood-framed building that previously held McCormick & Schmick’s. The building, at 9945 S.W. Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, will soon hold the Guidepost Montessori School.

鈥淚t’s absolutely as far away from it as you can get from the original,鈥� Joseph Hughes Construction President Joe Hughes said.

Illinois-based Quattro Development is developing the project, while CIDA is the designer. AAI Engineering is the civil engineer, and CIDA is the structural engineer.

The building was constructed in 1973 to hold the Rusty Grill restaurant. Then several storage rooms were added over the years. As a result, the construction team has encountered challenges.

鈥淭he original building was built fine,鈥� Hughes said, 鈥渂ut they did a couple of additions to it kind of on the cheap.鈥�

In addition, the building’s original layout 鈥� including a kitchen and a bar with a massive stone fireplace 鈥� was not suitable for use as classroom and administrative space.

鈥淎 lot of the structural support 鈥� the steel beams 鈥� is new,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淭he original roof structure and framing structure was kind of a mess. There was a structure under a structure, and through this hallway it was vaulted with leaded glass panels.鈥�

鈥淚t had fake vaults everywhere,鈥� project superintendent Shea Rue added.

Structural steel beams had to replace load-bearing walls in some areas. Other solutions were used elsewhere.

鈥淭he thing with seismic upgrades is the buildings are strong vertically, but it’s the back and forth that’s a problem,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淪o we added shear (walls) in several areas. In this case it was with wood framing and plywood and some steel. Glulams and other ceiling beams are then being used in a post and beam arrangement. The trick is to open it up and not have it fall down.鈥�

The kitchen presented a unique challenge. After 40 years of accumulating grease, steam and humidity, some of the walls 鈥� both steel and wood 鈥� were completely rotten and required replacement.

鈥淭his was all kitchen back here, and all the studs were rotted out from the base up about three feet, so we had to replace all the studs,鈥� Rue said. 鈥淚t was nasty.鈥�

Work started at the end of April and delivery is scheduled for this month.