PROJECT: Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital redevelopment

LOCATION: Newport

SIZE: 40,000-square-foot remodel, plus 86,000-square-foot addition

CONSTRUCTION START DATE: May 2017

CONSTRUCTION END DATE: winter 2020

OWNER: Pacific Communities Health District

ARCHITECT: The Neenan Company

CONTRACTOR: The Neenan Company with partner Gerding Builders

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: The Neenan Company of Fort Collins, Colorado, served as lead architect and general contractor to remodel 40,000 square feet of an existing facility and build an 86,000-square-foot, three-story addition. The company used a collaborative, multi-disciplinary process known as “archistruction” to centralize the work of engineers, architects, designers, project managers, contractors, subcontractors and tradespeople. Neenan partnered with Corvallis construction firm Gerding Builders and more than 50 subcontractors and vendors to ensure hospital operations could continue without interruption during construction. The project included facility upgrades and expansion of health care services. The hospital, established in 1952 and previously updated in 1988, now has an integrated medical campus that brings together specialty departments, ancillary services and outpatient clinics. With 22 departments and new services – such as imaging, therapy, surgery and emergency care – the medical facility is designed to provide high-quality care for residents and visitors in Depoe Bay, Newport, Toledo, Waldport and Yachats. Among the new features are larger patient rooms with ocean and bay views, efficient and maximized work space for care providers, upgraded equipment, state-of-the-art procedure rooms, and a galleria that connects to the original structure. Voters within the Pacific Communities Health District in 2015 approved a $57 million bond measure for the project. Samaritan Health Services provided $10 million more for new medical equipment and furnishings. The community contributed an additional $1 million for equipment and art through donations to the Pacific Communities Health District Foundation. The project also was awarded a $1.5 million seismic rehabilitation grant from Business Oregon.

“Building Blocks” is a 91��Ƶ feature that spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcorprod.wpengine.com/building-blocks.

The post Building Blocks: Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital redevelopment appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The crown jewel of Greater Albany Public Schools‘ $159 million capital bond is now entering the construction phase, and general contractor Gerding Builders is seeking sub-bids for all scopes of work.

The start of a full rebuild of West Albany High School calls for 108,000 square feet of new construction. The school, built in 1953, will gain an auxiliary gym, a commercial kitchen, a cafeteria with a commons area, eight new classrooms and an administrative wing.

The addition, designed by DLR Group, will be located to the south of the existing high school. It will also include a new bus drop-off area, a separate parental drop-off area, additional parking, relocated tennis courts and a relocated shot put area for track and field.

Renovations include modifications to the existing stadium storage areas into new team rooms; modifications to the existing gymnasium roof, ceiling and HVAC system; a renovated restroom; and connections to the existing school.

Voters in May 2017 approved the bond measure for updates and improvements of school district facilities. The state of Oregon later awarded the district a $6.9 million capital construction matching grant, and because of that the district chose to sell only $152 million in bonds. Then favorable bond sales provided $28.5 million more to boost the total bond program to $187 million.

The estimated costs for the West Albany project rose as high as $62 million, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported in August. But value engineering dropped that figure by roughly $11.4 million.

Construction is scheduled to start in April and finish in time to accommodate the start of the school year in fall 2020.

All bids connected with this project are due by 2 p.m. on Jan. 23. Prospective bidders can learn more by emailing Mark Steinauer of Gerding Builders at marks@gerdingbuilders.com.

The post Subcontractors needed for school expansion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

All scopes of work are open for bidding as part of an extensive renovation and expansion project at South Albany High School.

General contractor Gerding Builders is seeking sub-bids for the work, which will provide new instructional space in the existing gymnasium building, new Career Technical Education (CTE) classrooms and a large multipurpose space able to accommodate both physical education and CTE lessons. According to Greater Albany Public Schools, crews also will improve the existing gymnasium’s lobby and restrooms as well as construct a new auxiliary gymnasium.

Further, the school’s Building 4 will be transformed into modern CTE space with the additions of two classrooms and technology. Also, Building 4 will gain a new maker lab, a new fabrication lab, a new computer lab, metals lab renovations, and a covered courtyard for construction projects.

Finally, Building 8 will receive interior upgrades to better suit performing arts.

While this project is being paid for with money from a 2017 bond measure, the work being done also is addressing damage done in 2015 when an arsonist caused substantial damage to the cafeteria, kitchen and other parts of campus.

Bidding remains open until 2 p.m. on Nov. 13.

The post Sub-bids sought for Albany school construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Residents on the Oregon coast from Depoe Bay and Toledo to Waldport and Yachats are closer to gaining a new hospital to serve their medical and health-related needs.

At 126,000 square feet, the new $57 million Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital under construction in Newport will offer 22 departments and a wider scope of services than the 25-bed hospital it’s replacing. The project is being paid for with money from a property tax bond measure passed by voters in 2015. Crews broke ground in May 2017 and are on track to finish by summer 2020.

Pacific Communities Health District is the project owner, and Samaritan Health Services will operate the hospital. It was designed by The Neenan Company, which also is serving as lead general contractor – in partnership with 50-year-old, Corvallis-based Gerding Builders.

The project is being handled in three phases via a method Neenan Co. calls “Archistruction.” The company adopted the approach, which combines architecture and construction rather than separating them out in the bid process, after realizing how concepts of design-build could help move forward more smoothly the types of health care projects upon which Neenan Co. has built its reputation.

“The key components of Archistruction are in line with design-build,” Neenan Co. project manager Jason Brown said. “There’s more efficient communication and better input at all levels, so the designs are more in tune with the client’s needs.”

The approach meshes well with Gerding Builders’ previous experience working on approximately 20 other major health care facilities, including several for Samaritan Health Services, according to Ryan McAlister, a pre-construction manager and project executive for Gerding Builders

“(Archistruction) is a great process; we figure it all out together,” he said. “This project has been an ongoing conversation and dialogue … We get to know each other, get a better idea of how to work together.”

Much of that dialogue included the people who would be working in the hospital, from doctors and nurses to “the people who keep the floors clean,” Brown said. Together, the project team and the hospital staff collaborated on a floor plan. That plan was then used to create mock-ups of several rooms so that everyone could see how the designs and layouts would work in a real-world situation.

“We brought in beds, wheelchairs, equipment, mops – pretty much anything they would use – and we discussed what worked and where we could improve on things before construction started,” Brown said.

Hospital administrators say the project team’s willingness to create an inclusive environment in the areas of planning, design and construction has helped drum up an extremely high level of buy-in from hospital staff that might not have been possible otherwise.

“If you ask the employees, it’s their hospital,” Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital CEO Lesley Ogden said. “They feel invested in it.”

The project was placed in seismic design zone categorized ‘F’ – largely because of the location near a major fault and occupants’ vulnerability – so Neenan Co. had to develop strategic designs and construction plans to meet stringent building standards.

The hospital that previously served the community was built in 1988. It will be renovated to accommodate administrative and secondary support uses.

Samaritan Health Services is a not-for-profit network of five hospitals, 80 clinics and additional health service facilities that serve residents of the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon coast.

Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital

Location: Newport

Size: 126,000 square feet

Architect: The Neenan Company

General contractors: The Neenan Company and Gerding Builders

Construction start: May 2017

Anticipated completion: summer 2020

The post New hospital on the rise in Newport appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post Gerding Builders LLC: Linn-Benton Community College appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post Gerding Builders, LLC: Oregon State University appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post Gerding Builders: South Albany High School appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post Gerding Builders, LLC: South Albany High School appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post Gerding Builders is seeking skilled construction trade employees appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to infuse the Oregon construction workforce with fresh faces, say members of a state-appointed task force charged with crafting policy that could lead to new laws regarding apprentice utilization.

The 14-member Apprenticeship in State Public Contracting Task Force was created via Senate Bill 782 in the 2013 legislative session. Task force member Tom Gerding, owner of Corvallis-based Gerding Builders LLC, said the group was born out of industry resistance to legislation that would have created state requirements for minimum apprentice participation on public works projects.

Thus far, the task force has taken a holistic approach to its assignment, trying to first understand the current apprenticeship system and whether it meets the modern-day needs of the construction industry. That is critical for crafting laws that will affect the entire industry, said John Rakowitz, government affairs director for Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

“Really, the critical piece – if we’re really going to understand what it’s going to take to grow the number of apprentices in Oregon from our end – is to step back and look at this whole piece,” Gerding said. “We are hearing from several (stakeholders) – from the trainers to the apprentices themselves and the employers: Are there barriers of entry coming in? Are there individuals who want to get into an apprenticeship program, but can’t?”

AGC last summer presented to an early version of SB 782 that would have required at least 10 percent apprentice participation on public works projects. The requirement was too inflexible and could have had unintended consequences, Rakowitz said. AGC supported creation of the task force to work through issues.

“It’s a really good way to figure out policy before you automatically start assuming you want to add a new law on public utilization standards,” Rakowitz said. “There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that you’ve got to deal with the workforce training issues before we can really start to recover.”

One possibility being discussed would require contractors who bid on public works projects to become registered training agents. The task force has thus far visited a union training facility in Tangent and an open shop one in Salem, and left with questions about how a statewide policy would impact contractors.

“What I came away with from the open shop is that they admitted they struggled to talk contractors into becoming training agents,” said task force member John Mohlis, executive secretary for the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. “That hurts their side of the industry because on the union side, all contractors are training agents.”

Union apprentices often work for six to eight contractors during their apprenticeship programs. Open shop apprentices typically work for fewer contractors, he said.

Some nonunion contractors are more reluctant to become training agents because by the time an apprentice is ready to become a journeyman, the person is ready to work for someone else, Mohlis said.

“You never hear that on the union side because all the wages are frozen across the industry,” he said.

Another proposal in the works would tweak the previously proposed apprentice participation requirement so that contractors could measure the number as an aggregate rather than for each individual trade, said Patrick Brennan, committee administrator for the task force. In the initial version of SB 782, the 10 percent requirement would have applied to each subcontractor, making logistics difficult for some of the smaller trades.

A bigger question for the task force is how training programs are attracting workers and preparing them for work, Brennan said.

“How do you attract people to go into an electrical, plumbing or other trade?” he said. “Second, how do you ensure enough opportunities are in apprenticeships? And third, how do you know there is enough work for all apprentices out there?”

The construction industry is dealing with societal issues that make attracting, training and hiring new generations of workers difficult, said task force member Frank Wall, executive director of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of Oregon. In the past, many kids worked on cars or on a farm and could be pegged as future construction workers; today, kids often play video games and have less work experience, he said.

The education system has not helped, he added, by cutting shop classes in middle school and directing kids more toward four-year degree programs.

Wall said it’s critical too that training opportunities increase for women and minorities.

“It used to be in the building trades that if my father was an electrician, I would become an electrician; it was a natural progression,” he said. “We need to say those days are different and open up opportunities for new workers.”

The next three or four months will be critical for the task force; it has a November deadline for proposing policy that could become law in 2015. The group’s next meeting will likely be in Salem in late June or early July, Brennan said. No date has been set.

The post Examining the apprenticeship system appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.