After more than 20 years of use, the popular City Park Fountain, in the heart of Beaverton, is finally getting an extensive and complex overhaul.

With annual required maintenance reaching critical mass, the city decided several years ago to replace the fountain’s exhausted mechanical equipment housed in an underground vault. New water filtration and circulation equipment will be housed in a new above-ground facility. In addition, aged playground equipment is being replaced at the park.

Construction at the site, near the Beaverton City Library, began in January and is scheduled to finish by late summer. General contractor Fulcrum Construction of Beaverton is spearheading the work. Walker Macy, the primary consultant for the city, has overseen the project’s design.

While the Library Fountain Improvement Project may not be large in terms of scale and scope, the fountain has attained a symbolic value far greater than the $3 million cost of work. Historically, more than 55,000 people per year have visited the water feature – a figure that is expected to grow in the future.

“This is obviously an iconic piece of Beaverton and this is going to enhance that,” said Aaron Lee, a construction project manager for the city. “But we really are trying to, collectively as a city, … create a downtown experience.”

New, programmable fountain jets with LED lighting, and even sound, are being installed. Drainage around the plaza is being improved to help new chemical and UV filtration equipment perform more efficiently. The main fountain components came from Crystal Fountains, a Toronto firm considered one of the world’s top manufacturers of water features.

“I’m not sure exactly what that will look like, or how we’ll do events and things like that,” Lee said. “But there is a certain amount of automation and connectivity that will allow us to do a lot of really cool things that we obviously can’t do now.”

At the heart of the project is a complicated plan to remove a below-grade concrete vault housing the fountain’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Replacement systems will be placed inside a single-story pump house at the park’s southwest corner.

“One of the issues is that the vault is 15 or 16 feet deep, so it requires confined space entry,” Lee said. “You can’t just pop down there and get entry and do what you need to do. That will alleviate a lot of the maintenance issues.”

The pump house will feature brick masonry cladding to match the Beaverton City Library as part of an effort to tie together various city facilities in the downtown area. Future plans, Lee said, call for creation of a series of trails and walking paths to provide further connectivity between these elements.

Some existing materials are being reused and repurposed. An existing underground surge tank, which holds water from the fountain that is then filtered and recirculated, has been refurbished and recertified for use with the new water feature. Also, a good deal of the soil being excavated from the site during construction is being moved for off-site use elsewhere.

“It’s a pretty significant cost savings,” Lee said.

The involvement of local contractors is also noteworthy. Fulcrum Construction is a COBID-certified company based in Beaverton, and many of its employees happen to live just blocks away from the job site.

“It’s very important to us; it’s our city,” said Israel Rodriguez, the company owner. “It helps commuting a lot, and as soon as it showed up, we bid. We also bid for other work for the Beaverton School District – things that are nearby. It is important for us, as well as for logistics; it’s economics.”

For a small firm that works almost exclusively in the public sector, that’s a big deal.

“That’s all we do,” Rodriguez said. “It’s very important. We were blessed to get this job and the workforce is super happy with the work.”

Major subcontractors involved in the project include: Nuwave Concrete of Forest Grove; Cochran Inc., which is performing electrical work; and Outside the Lines, an Anaheim, California-based firm that specializes in water feature installations.

Beaverton Public Works Director Chad Lynn said the public is eager to see the fountain reopen after a closure already over a year. However, an exact date for that has not been determined, due to the ongoing pandemic.

“We can’t wait to get back into the fountain,” Lynn said. “It’s a centerpiece of the community with the adjacency to the library and downtown.”

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General Sheet Metal (GSM) started in Portland in 1932. The firm grew steadily, weathered the storms of fluctuating economics and is now one of the largest, most comprehensive sheet metal contractors in the Pacific Northwest.

Carol Duncan, President and CEO, is the second generation at the helm. Following her father’s retirement, she recognized the advantages of COBID certification and qualified for certification and recognition as a MWESB firm in 2000.  Currently, of over 240 employees, 43 (17%) are women and 50 (20%) are minorities.

“We’re committed to diversity,” said Duncan. “We have been for decades. Recruiting, engaging with people at all levels and being aggressive in making a culture that strives for goals in diversity has become part of who we are.”

Duncan cites the company mission statement, “Successfully build through innovation, industry leadership and collaborative relationships,” as including COBID and diversity as integral parts of how the company functions.

In addition to having a number of employees, including management, who have graduated from COBID training, several employees regularly attend community outreach events as well as mentor other emerging COBID firms. Applicants for employment regularly express their appreciation for GSM commitment to those goals. GSM’s involvement in the community reflects their commitment to diversity as well.

The company has led tours for Oregon Tradeswomen and Portland Youth Builders, participated in the Portland Workforce Alliance career fair, worked with Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs on meetings and trade shows, serves on the board for Workforce Southwest Washington, Clackamas Workforce Partnership, several high school programs and job fairs and supports the ACE Mentorship Program.

Outside of industry groups, the company has actively mentored Fulcrum Construction, a COBID contractor, for the past three years. Duncan attributes their success to creating a culture where leadership and employees share a commitment to racial and gender diversity.

General Sheet Metal has been featured on Oregon Business’ 2018 list of 100 Best Workplaces and 100 Green Workplaces.

The company often hires WBE and COBID firms to support other businesses in building diverse workforces. In the past decade they’ve grown from $8 million annual revenue to over $50 million and at the same time has experience increases in the ratio of women and minorities in its growing workforce.

Their continued expansion has also grown in the services the firm offers. GSM has expanded into mechanical, HVAC, architectural services and fabrication, routinely working with a variety of materials including fiberglass, plastic, brass, aluminum, composites, steel, galvanized, stainless steel and coated materials.

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