Project name: Multnomah County Library Operations Center

Location: 221 N.E. 122^nd Ave., Portland

Start date: July 2022

Completion date: Fall 2023

Cost: $62,528,627 ($37,500,529 for construction)

Owner: Multnomah County Library

Construction Manager/General Contractor: Fortis Construction

Architect: Hennebery Eddy Architects

Engineers: KPFF, Interface Engineering

Other Associates/Consultants: The Greenbusch Group (acoustics and AV), Code Unlimited (code consultant), PLACE Studio (landscape architecture), Lensa Consulting (LEED consultant), Biella Lighting (lighting consultant), Arris Consulting LLC (mechanical, plumbing, energy modeling), Knot Design (signage), JG Pierson (structural), Kittelson & Associates (traffic engineer, street lighting)

Significance of Project and Project Description: A ceremonial groundbreaking was held Wednesday for the Multnomah County Library Operations Center, located at the southwest corner of 122^nd Avenue and Glisan Street on the site of a former Safeway grocery store. The center will be at the heart of many library services, where new books and materials come into the library system, where many items placed on hold are sorted and transferred, and where specialized materials and services for outreach to new immigrant communities, schools, retirement communities, shelters and other settings are centered.

The 72,925-square-foot, two-story building will house Automated Materials Handling technology, getting library items to patrons efficiently while ultimately making staff available for more customer service. Additionally, the centralized location provides an opportunity to better serve the community through the library’s outreach programs in schools, child care centers, shelter and transitional housing, and other settings.

While most of the building will not be public-facing, Friends of the Library will run a year-round public retail space that will sell donated books and retired library materials. This is an opportunity to provide a new, affordable retail amenity for East Portland in an accessible location in coordination with Friends of the Library.

Hennebery Eddy Architects will lead design of the center and Fortis Construction is the general contractor. The building will provide a pathway to greater efficiency with sustainability at the core of the work. With plans for approximately 600 photovoltaic panels on the building’s rooftop that convert sunlight into electricity, the goal is to make this a net-zero energy building in addition to attaining LEED Gold certification.�� In addition to the photovoltaic panels, the project is following guidance and strategies from Energy Trust of Oregon’s Path to Net Zero plan from initial design planning to construction document review to ensure Net Zero.

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PROJECT: Oregon City Engineering & Operations Center

LOCATION: 13895 Fir St., Oregon City

SIZE: 26,000-square-foot office and 53,000-square-foot warehouse

COST: $12.8 million

START DATE: September 2020

COMPLETION DATE: November 2021

OWNER: city of Oregon City

OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE: PlanB Consultancy

ARCHITECT: Scott | Edwards Architecture

ENGINEERS: WDY Inc. (structural), Harper Houf Peterson Righellis (civil, landscaping), Interface Engineering (mechanical)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Emerick Construction

OTHER CONSULTANTS: JLD Cost Consulting

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: Oregon City’s Engineering and Operations Center is now open to the public. The facility houses Public Works engineering, Public Works operations, geographic information systems, facility maintenance and the parks maintenance division.

The 4.7-acre property, formerly occupied by General Distributing Inc., was purchased in April 2019 for $7.1 million. Environmental, structural and mechanical inspections took place, and then crews broke ground in September 2020.

The renovation of the existing building included seismic reinforcement. The facility is considered essential because it houses emergency response personnel.

“The site is dramatically different, considering we kept the structure intact,” Scott | Edwards Architecture project manager Brandon Dole stated in a press release. “We are proud the project took the route of reusing the space with modifications to updates to fit the needs of Public Works now and in the future.”

Modifications to the office building created reception areas, a customer service counter, a training room, a conference room, enclosed offices, open workspaces, storage space, and a break room. More than 8,500 square feet is dedicated to a fleet workshop, a vehicle wash-down area, and indoor storage for materials and equipment. The lot includes fuel storage with pumps, and all existing warehouse facilities are equipped with heat and fire suppression.

“When Emerick first learned of this project, we were excited for the opportunity to be part of a project of this significance in Oregon City because of the impact it was going to have for the community,” Jordan Fell, Emerick Construction’s director of special projects, stated in the news release. “Issues are inherent to every construction project, but this one was extra challenging and unpredictable. (We) had to navigate through construction while dealing with COVID, wildfires, ice storms, and supply chain issues. Through all of this, we were still able to deliver this project on time – and that’s not a small feat.”

“Building Blocks” spotlights noteworthy projects either under construction or approaching the start of construction. To submit a project for consideration, please visit: djcoregon.com/building-blocks.

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PROJECT: New De La Salle North Catholic High School campus

LOCATION: 4300 N.E. Killingsworth St., Portland

COST:��$26 million

START DATE: July 2020

END DATE: October 2021

OWNER: De La Salle North Catholic High School

OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE: Shiels Obletz Johnsen

ARCHITECT: Bora Architecture & Interiors

ENGINEERS: Mazzetti (civil), Catena Consulting Engineers (structural), Interface Engineering (MEP)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:��P&C Construction

OTHER ASSOCIATES/CONSULTANTS: Acoustic Design Studio (acoustical), Code Unlimited LLC (code consulting), Halliday Associates (kitchen), Kelsay Environmental Consulting (environmental), Lango Hansen Landscape Architects (landscape), NV5 (geotechnical/environmental), PSI (special inspections), Radongreen (radon)

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: De La Salle North Catholic High School offers a private, faith-based college preparatory education to urban students with limited educational opportunities, turning no one away because of an inability to pay. Since opening in 2001, the school rented two locations. Now it’s operating at the first new Catholic high school campus in Portland in more than 50 years. De La Salle North Catholic is co-locating with St. Charles Parish, which previously operated a Catholic elementary school from 1950 to 1986.

A $26 million capital fundraising campaign was led by Mary and Tim Boyle, in two phases over 30 months. Phase one included $20.5 million for renovation of an existing building to become an academic wing, and new construction of the commons, courtyard and parking lot. Phase two sought $5.5 million for a gymnasium and additional work. Phase one of the campaign was launched publicly in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. At that point $2.2 million more was needed in order for construction to start. Undeterred by uncertainty generated by the pandemic, the fundraising team successfully met its phase one goal and broke ground in July 2020. Two months later, the team raised the minimum amount required to build the gymnasium.

The new campus accommodates more than 350 students. It includes a private courtyard, a commons, state-of-the-art science labs, a specialized art classroom and the Michael Kelley Gymnasium. The science classrooms can accommodate both technology-based and hands-on learning in physics, biology and chemistry.

The school welcomed 274 students on Sept. 7, while crews finished constructing the commons and gymnasium. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 22.

“Building Blocks” 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.

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PROJECT: Ninebark

LOCATION: Washougal, Washington

SIZE: 9 acres (nine total buildings)

COST: undisclosed

START DATE: November 2021

ANTICIPATED END DATE: February 2023

OWNER: Ninebark Apartments LLC

DEVELOPER: Killian Pacific

ARCHITECT: Holst Architecture

ENGINEERS: DOWL (civil), Interface Engineering (MEP), Froelich Engineers (structural)

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: R&O Construction

OTHER ASSOCIATES/CONSULTANTS: Ground Workshop (landscape architect), Vida Design (interior design), ABD Engineering and Design (acoustics consultant), Project Pivot (sustainability consultant), RDH (building envelope consultant)

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT: Ninebark is being developed by Killian Pacific on nearly 9 acres along the Columbia River in Southwest Washington.

Holst Architecture’s design weaves nine buildings, a public park and open space into the surrounding natural environment. Eight buildings will hold 246 apartments – a mix of studios and one-, two- or three-bedroom units – featuring high-quality, sustainable, regionally sourced materials. A freestanding riverside clubhouse will have a dramatic, sloped roofline and an abundance of amenities. Buildings will offer views of the river and Mount Hood.

The clubhouse’s main lounge will include a central fireplace and private seating areas. A fully equipped fitness center with river views will be near walking trails and boat ramps, and a shared gear shed will provide outdoor equipment such as kayaks and bikes for residents’ use. Landscaped open spaces are intended to attract residents seeking an escape to nature.

In addition to being near downtown Camas and downtown Washougal, Ninebark will be close to local breweries, coffee shops and restaurants in the surrounding neighborhood. Also, the Port of Camas-Washougal’s master plan for Parker’s Landing calls for further enriching the area with a public marina, additional restaurants, retail spaces and other commercial spaces.

Salmon Safe and Fitwel certifications are being targeted for the project, and the team is aiming for the clubhouse to have net-zero energy use. Twenty percent of parking stalls will have electric-vehicle charging capabilities at the time of completion, but additional infrastructure will allow that number to increase to 37.4 percent in the future.

Woman-owned or minority-owned businesses are on track to make up 25 percent of the construction team.

Though not required by regulatory mandates, Ninebark will offer 10 percent of units at affordable rates.

Local and regional artists will be celebrated throughout Ninebark as well as the connected trails and parks.

“Building Blocks” 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.

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When Vy Duong, an assistant field engineer with Turner Construction, was asked whether she would like to spearhead a Women in Construction Week event, she eagerly accepted.

Duong received a degree in civil engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 2018, and then joined Turner Construction’s Portland office a year ago as an assistant engineer. She learned about the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and its annual weeklong celebration around the same time.

“I found out about NAWIC through some of my colleagues in the organization,” she said. “And after that they were like, ‘Hey, you’re on a cool project; do you want to lead this tour?’ So I said, ‘Yes, that sounds good.’”

The “cool project” is the expansion of Adidas‘ North American headquarters in Portland’s Overlook neighborhood. There, two mass-timber buildings are being constructed along North Greeley Avenue.

On Wednesday, a group of around 15 women working in construction in the Portland area, and a few men too, joined Duong and others with Turner Construction at the Adidas campus.

“People sometimes ask me why I decided to join Turner,” Duong said. “And I think what makes me the most excited about Turner is that they support things like this. It’s been nothing but support.”

The larger north building – with a hybrid structural system of precast concrete columns, heavy timber beams and cross-laminated timber panels – will be five stories and hold mostly office space, while the smaller south building – all heavy timber – will be three stories and provide amenities for Adidas employees.

“I think there’s a significant desire right now in the Pacific Northwest to utilize wood in structures,” said Colin Foster, a Turner Construction superintendent working on the south building. “I think it derived from the client, Adidas, saying we want to utilize resources from the Pacific Northwest in our new construction. So the design team’s challenge was: How do we do that? And we arrived at this.”

Crews led by general contractor Turner Construction installed the final glulam beams and cross-laminated timber panels a little over a month ago. LEVER Architecture designed the buildings, KPFF Consulting Engineers performed structural engineering, and Interface Engineering handled mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering.

Even some mass-plywood panels 12 feet wide by 48 feet long now cover an existing soccer field that is being used to host subcontractor job trailers, materials and deliveries. Sheets of plywood were laminated together to form a much larger piece of lumber.

“We laid this down to protect the existing waterproofing,” said Andy Kavanaugh, a senior superintendent with Turner Construction. “There are two inches of Styrofoam and these are two inches thick. We put this in last April and it’s almost been a year and it’s held up pretty well out in the weather with no protection.”

The south building is being constructed an existing three-level parking garage below grade. Over three months of work was required to prepare the integration of the garage with the new building. This included reinforcement and thickening of existing columns, as well as driving 28 micropiles and pouring new footings for each of them.

“We poured new, huge footings on these piles and we took two-foot-diameter concrete columns that were there and we made them basically four feet with shotcrete and rebar cages all the way up,” Foster said. “So these columns (in each new building) land directly on the columns down in the garage.”

A grand staircase dominates the entrance and lobby for the north building. It has three-ply CLT panels, unlike the five-ply panels in the south building. Also, the south building uses a structural steel building core with buckling restraint bracing for seismic resilience. The north building, meanwhile, uses precast concrete girders and beams for structural support, along with glulam beams and cross-laminated timber panels.

Over 700 CLT panels were used on the north building, Kavanaugh said.

“Typically we’d take four loads a day,” he said. “They were stacked four to a truck. We had the glulams attached at the factory, so they all came out like a stack of Legos.”

A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating is being sought for the project. The team is looking to deliver the south building in May and the north building in October.

“That’s definitely one of the highest priorities of Adidas,” Duong said. “They told us that on time and on schedule and under budget is good, but if you don’t get LEED, then this project is a failure.”

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At first glance, a new $34 million building at the University of Portland doesn’t stand out from nearby structures that are well over a century old.��School officials and the building’s architects consider that a success.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall, the first new academic building to open on the North Portland campus in over two decades, was designed to be aesthetically similar to historic buildings in the vicinity.

“When driving up our main drive and seeing the building for the first time, we wanted it to seem like it had always been here,” said Jim Ravelli, the school’s vice president for university operations. “We wanted to have a classic, traditional look, yet have the features of a modern building.”

University leaders and the buildings’ donors were looking to echo design elements of older buildings across campus built in the Collegiate Gothic style, which is more typical of East Coast universities and less common of those west of the Rockies.

To achieve that goal, the university hired the design team of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, a New York-based firm with a portfolio including buildings at Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame, and Soderstrom Architects, a Portland-based firm that has designed multiple buildings on the campus and has experience with education and faith-based design.

The building is clad in distressed brick and variegated Indiana limestone, while large oak doors in arched, recessed entries as well as a 58-foot clock tower and copper downspouts contribute to the classic look. Inside, a cathedral-like entrance, extensive use of wood molding and wainscoting, classic light fixtures and other details contribute to the sophisticated academic feel.

“This is something you would see at Yale or Harvard,” said Dan Danielson, president of Soderstrom Architects. “This is a very unique piece of architecture for Oregon.”

The L-shaped building footprint creates a large, open quad between Dundon-Berchtold Hall and Waldschmidt Hall, a 128-year-old administrative building. In order to create a cohesive aesthetic between the structures, the architects used tumbled brick on the new building for a more rustic, warm feel.

A classic appearance belies what is a thoroughly modern building equipped with high-tech features. Its 17 classrooms are equipped with drop-down projection screens and true-color laser projection, touch screen controls, digital white boards, and options for recording lectures. An 80-inch high-definition planar touch screen display is mounted in the lobby, and a student lounge has four collaboration areas with digital displays for presentations and content sharing. High-speed internet connectivity is delivered by 60 interior and six exterior wireless access points.

Green features include LED lighting, occupancy sensors to ensure lighting and air conditioning are on only in rooms that are in use, automatic window shades, and roofing materials designed to reflect sunlight and reduce the heat island effect. The university is targeting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating.

The 65,616-square-foot building contains two stories of above-grade steel-framed space over one below-grade level. Each classroom has a capacity ranging from 40 students to over 90; some have tiered arrangements and installed furniture, and others have podiums, desks and chairs that can easily be moved and rearranged to facilitate collaboration and discussion. The building also has a 146-seat multipurpose auditorium, faculty offices, a large study lounge with a red marble fireplace, 12 formal and informal gathering areas, and the Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation & Applied Ethics.

Dundon-Berchtold Hall opened to students in late August after 17 months of construction by contractor Fortis Construction; a formal blessing and dedication took place Sept. 26. The site formerly held Howard Hall, a gymnasium that was built in 1927 and then demolished following completion of a new recreation center in 2015.

The building’s design was formulated in part through a lengthy due diligence and study process. A steering committee co-led by the design team spent about 18 months engaging with faculty and students to discuss programming needs. Soderstrom Architects served as the prime architect, and Robert A.M. Stern was the project’s design architect.

The project team also included KPFF Consulting Engineers (structural and civil engineering), Interface Engineering (mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering) and PLACE Studio (landscape architecture).

Ravelli offered high praise for the architects, Fortis Construction, and the subcontractors and skilled tradespeople who collaborated on the building.

“They took immense pride in this project,” he said, “and many of them have described it as a once-in-a-career opportunity.”

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In Moro, a tiny city in northern Oregon, a 120-year-old historic building again has a cupola. The project to restore and add to the Sherman County Courthouse wrapped up last year. It now has gained recognition from Restore Oregon as one of its 12 .

The awards honor exceptional efforts to preserve, reuse and revitalize architecturally and culturally significant sites in Oregon. The winning projects will be feted during Restore Oregon’s Restoration Celebration gala on Nov. 1, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., at the Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland.

Many of this year’s winners are in Portland, but the Sherman County Courthouse is in a much more rural setting. The building’s original cupola had been removed decades ago after being destroyed in a storm. Hennebery Eddy Architects designed the rehabilitation of the unreinforced building as well as a new building.

“The cupola is fiberglass, so we replicated it,” said Meg Matsushima, a Hennebery Eddy Architects associate. “We worked with a group out of Texas (Fiberglass Specialties Inc.) where one of their other businesses is building extreme chicken coops. They did a great job, and in the courthouse itself that’s the only seismic upgrade we needed to do since we were moving sheriff’s operations to the new addition.”

Kirby Nagelhout Construction was the general contractor for the project. Interface Engineering performed the MEP engineering, lighting design, fire and life safety and building technologies. Surprises popped up along the way to completion.

“In the basement, with the excavation, we found that it wasn’t fully excavated at first,” Matsushima said. “There were obstacles in the way, so trying to get footings for the cupola down to the basement was a challenge.”

The team was careful, Matsushima said, both in how it designed and where it placed the 15,000-square-foot addition so it would neither overshadow nor detract from the historic courthouse. In addition, local artists were sought to provide landscape photographs and paintings depicting Sherman County for use in decorating the golden-hued interior of both the courthouse and the addition.

“I think the DeMuro Award is a big deal in our office and our historic resources group,” Matsushima said. “It sets you apart in a different way in the architecture community. It’s nice these types of buildings are recognized, because a lot of the awards are just the big, fancy buildings, and these little jewels are just as important to the fabric of our culture.”

Other 2019 DeMuro Award winners include: the Almr Apartments and retail spaces in Portland; the Altsource headquarters in Portland; the Fairmount Apartments in Portland; Firehouse 17 (restoration and addition) in Portland; the Central Hotel in Burns; the M&N Building in Astoria; Lincoln Hall (renovation and addition) at Portland State University; the Silas Beeks House (restoration) in Forest Grove; The Redd on Salmon Street in Portland; the U.S. Customs House in Portland; and the Woodlark Hotel in Portland.

The Restoration Celebration will begin with a happy hour at 5:30 p.m. and follow with a three-course dinner and program. Learn more and buy tickets – $125 for Restore Oregon members; $150 for nonmembers – at .

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Concordia University is ramping up to become a bigger player in the ultra-competitive health care education field. A renovation of an existing building, at the university’s Columbia River campus in Northeast Portland, is under way in order to add space and technology for the nursing program.

The 41,000-square-foot structure, at first a Best Buy store and later an office building, is being converted into a new Nursing Innovation Center. Mackenzie is designing the project, which is being built by general contractor Union Corner Construction of Vancouver, Washington. Interface Engineering is taking care of mechanical and electrical needs.

Work began recently, and completion is scheduled for January 2020. The project’s design has already made an impact.

“I’m really impressed,” said Shawn Daley, Concordia’s chief business development officer. “They’re putting into place things that will help educators do research.”

The center represents a renewed push into nursing for Concordia, which has the largest enrollment of a private nonprofit university in Oregon. The school in 2017 opened the 12,000-square-foot Nursing Skills Center, and is planning to soon expand its offering of nursing degrees.

To accommodate new programs and students, the building is gaining a variety of technological and educational improvements, including six simulation rooms that will replicate surgery, OB-GYN and other medical scenarios. There will also be community health rooms that look like apartments, to simulate in-home visits.

“We kind of have to set this up like a mini-hospital,” Mackenzie design director Monty Hill said. “When the nursing students come in, they feel like they’re really in that situation.”

Walls will be built to separate the rooms, and they will be topped off with ceilings as well. Daley said the original plan was to leave them open up top for observation, but the simulations create so much noise that each room needs to be somewhat isolated.

Simulations will involve professional actors performing various scenarios a nurse might encounter in a workplace, and so a studio will be built in which actors will be able to rehearse. The desire to make simulations as realistic as possible inspired the design team to incorporate working toilets in each room, and Daley said the plumbing for that might present a challenge.

Taking realism even further, a separate corridor will be built for the actors to enter simulation and changing rooms, so they don’t interact with students outside of their characters. Hill said he’s toured every nursing school in Oregon and has never seen such a corridor.

Concordia started its nursing program 10 years ago, and has since received both state and national accreditation. Daley said the school early on was graduating about 40 nursing students each year. That number has since increased to around 200 per year, but Daley said more are needed.

“Adding just another 10 students is not going to make much of a dent,” he said.

Supplying the world with more nurses naturally requires more education, and Daley said the Columbia River campus, located slightly east of Interstate 205, was the best choice – primarily because of the availability of space.

Though completion of the Nursing Innovation Center is still several months away, Daley said even before then classes will take place inside the building in some capacity.

While Hill has worked on many health care facilities in his career, he said he only recently joined Mackenzie, and Concordia is one of the firm’s first clients with such a project.

“I think they’re going to be one of the most advanced nursing schools in the state,” he said. “We’re excited to be a part of it.”

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Aquatic center projects are rare these days, according to Triplett Wellman project manager Steve Duch, so a new one for Chehalem Park & Recreation District is a bit of a big deal. The 40,000-square-foot facility in Newberg features two pools – a 25-yard-long one for competition and a smaller, shallower one for leisure and play. A grand opening for the Chehalem Aquatic and Fitness Center took place June 7.

“There are not a lot done,” Duch said. “There are only a handful in the state that have been completed in the last 10 or 15 years.”

The new facility is replacing Newberg’s existing L-shaped pool, which was built in 1970. That building is now connected to the new one, and its pool will be filled in with gravel so that it can be topped by a gymnasium. The entire $18 million project is being paid for with money from a $19.9 million bond measure approved by voters in 2014.

Construction of the new aquatic center was the first phase. Rehabilitation of the old building is the second phase. Work on that portion is under way, with completion expected around Thanksgiving, Duch said.

Public demand for aquatic services and physical deterioration of the old facility drove the project forward, said Jim McMaster, parks and facilities supervisor for the Chehalem Park & Recreation District and its project manager for the aquatic center project. He likened the condition of the old pool’s miles of corroded piping to sclerotic arteries.

“Your arteries get older and they get smaller and smaller,” he said. “And the pipes in the pool are like those arteries.”

The old pool was beloved, but long in the tooth, according to Scott | Edwards Architecture senior associate Jennifer Marsicek.

“I constantly run into people that grew up with that pool,” she said. “There’s some nostalgia for the old building, but people are excited for the new pool. Competitive swimming is a big part of that community, so they needed the two pools and the locker room areas to support it. It gets pretty crazy in the existing pool when they’re all trying to have a swim.”

Marsicek led a design team that crafted an open, well-lit pool space able to capitalize on natural light much more than its predecessor. Also, coated windows reduce the amount of UV light entering the building. Finally, a rooftop photovoltaic array allows the project to receive an Energy Trust of Oregon tax rebate.

“We really tried to drill down on the energy side,” she said. “And a lot of that came from the mechanical system and the boiler system.”

The new aquatic center and its two pools also lack the distinct chemical odor of chlorine and other volatile substances used in pool filtration and cleaning. The air filtration system blows a constant stream of air across the water’s surface. Then, that air, which contains chloramines, or substances that are formed when chlorine binds with sweat and other body wastes, is expelled outside on the opposite end.

“You don’t even appreciate it until you walk through the space,” Duch said. “It’s the mechanical system that’s designed to recirculate air off the pool and bring it back into the mechanical system and exhaust the majority outside. The design team very purposely designed the project to minimize the pool smell, and so far it’s been successful.”

Pool water is heated by hydronic, air-to-water heat pumps. And a next-generation regenerative media filter is used. This tool can be programmed to regenerate the layer of media – in this case, perlite – used to filter the pool water. It can be done daily or in longer intervals. But by ensuring use of fresh perlite each day, the system can work at top efficiency.

“It’s constantly reconfiguring how the water is filtered,” McMaster said. “It’s probably the most efficient system on the market right now.”

Now, demolition of the old pool interior is under way.

“They will … probably start draining the old pool within a couple of weeks,” Marsicek said. “That will take a number of days, and then they’ll punch holes in the concrete shell and fill it in with gravel.”

The refurbished building will have a track that also serves as a raised balcony around the main gymnasium. These are amenities the park district heretofore has been unable to offer.

In short, the design was all about creating more space.

“From the infant-toddler age all the way to seniors and how it works for all those people – that was really important,” Marsicek said. “Everyone had their thing, but creating a facility and space that works for everyone … was one of the biggest challenges.”

Woodburn-based Triplett Wellman is one of the few Oregon contractors with recent experience building a swimming pool, having completed the Northern Wasco County Aquatic Center in 2015. The first phase of the Chehalem project went well, Duch said.

“It was a good project,” he said. “Obviously it’s a very complicated facility, but overall, I think it went as well as could have been expected based on the inherent challenges of a pool structure.”

Along with Woodburn-based Triplett Wellman and Scott | Edwards Architecture, the project team includes Interface Engineering, WDY Structural + Civil Engineers and WHPacific (landscape architecture).

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A 93-year-old single-story retail building in downtown Portland is being demolished to make way for a new six-story office building developed by Menashe Properties. Konell Construction and Demolition began demolishing the building this week for general contractor Turner Construction. The demolition is expected to last approximately one more week, at which point crews will begin digging for the quarter-block building’s foundations.

A tower crane will be erected at the site in November, and topping out of the post-tensioned concrete building is expected for May 2017, with core and shell completion slated for mid-August of that year. The LRS Architects and Design Department-designed building will have five stories of office over ground-floor retail, and a basement with M.E.P. systems and bike facilities.

Interface Engineering is the project’s mechanical engineer, Nishkian Dean is the structural engineer, and Shapiro Didway is the landscape architect.

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