Triplett Wellman Contractors is working to complete construction of a Wilsonville school after the first contractor was fired from the job.

Triplett Wellman took over from Emerick Construction. In December, West Linn-Wilsonville School District terminated Emerick, saying it had mismanaged construction at Frog Pond Primary School.

“Emerick Construction repeatedly failed to pay its subcontractors for work related to the Frog Pond Primary project despite receiving regular payment from the district,” the school district stated in December. “These actions by Emerick Construction failed to meet requirements as outlined in its contract and under Oregon law. Emerick Construction also refused to engage in mitigation efforts. These repeated failures led to ongoing delays in construction, and Emerick Construction’s continued inability to pay its subcontractors gave the district no choice but to move forward with a contract termination.”

Emerick, based in Tualatin, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Thursday.

Woodburn-based Triplett Wellman was hired in April. The district worked with bonding company Zurich to resume work under the terms of the performance bond, the district stated.

“Work has fully resumed with completion expected sometime next school year,” district spokesman Andrew Kilstrom stated in an email on Wednesday.

Frog Pond Primary School will officially open in 2026-27.

Triplett Wellman previously completed Sunset Primary School for the district in 2017.

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Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver, Washington, is putting to work $695 million of bond money approved by voters in February 2018. Dozens of school buildings are being renovated or replaced; one of the first is Sifton Elementary School, in Northeast Vancouver.

General contractor Pence Construction is tackling the $38 million project to replace an existing school built in 1958. The new, two-story, 62,000-square-foot Sifton Elementary will be the first of multiple new schools produced from a prototype design by LSW Architects.

Construction crews broke ground in April. These days, large glulam structural members are being erected for the gymnasium and auditorium, and exterior and interior walls are being framed. Soon, other tradespeople will arrive on site to begin rough-in work, but right now framers are working to get the building roofed and dried in before weather becomes harsher.

Wood framing is being used for the new school.

“It was a judgment call that we made early on in the design process,” R&C Management Group senior project manager Dan Bodell said. “Two years ago, construction costs were going nuts. Now, it’s not the same month-to-month creep that was going on; it’s a little more like a three-percent-a-year kind of cost creep. But we had to think: What can we do in the bones of the building to save money? And that’s why we went to wood framing.”

Crews with Salem-based DSL Builders are framing interior walls away from the main building and using a crane to fly them into place.

“Everybody will do some level of pre-fabbing,” Bodell said. “But here it’s all being done on site. At PS 22 they’re framing them in place and standing them up – not building them 100 feet away and swinging them into place. It’s just about different styles.”

“PS 22” is a new school, not yet named, being built by general contractor Triplett Wellman Contractors on Northeast 162nd Avenue. Meanwhile, a replacement for the existing Image Elementary School is being built by Emerick Construction on Northeast 131st Avenue. All three project teams are expected to finish their work by summer 2020, in time for the facilities to open for the 2020-21 school year.

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The path to construction of a new Sifton Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington, actually started with a massive fire.

That 2013 blaze may have destroyed Crestline Elementary School, but the process to replace the building led Evergreen Public Schools officials to select a prototype by LSW Architects. The new school opened barely 18 months later and featured a design that could be used in the future.

Fast-forward to 2018, when voters approved a $695 million capital bond measure – a sizable amount of it for six new elementary schools. Naturally, officials referred to the Crestline project when beginning the new ones, including Sifton.

“It was great because we already had the prototypical design,” said Gail Spolar, communications director for the school district.

Pence Construction is serving as the construction manager and general contractor for the Sifton project, which was designed by LSW Architects. Also, R&C Management Group is handling project management duties.

The original Sifton Elementary School, at 7301 N.E. 137th Ave., was built in 1958 as a single-story structure largely with a slab-on-grade foundation and concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls. The replacement structure, with a different footprint on the same property, will feature wood framing over a slab-on-grade foundation. Exposed glulam beams will be used for both practical and aesthetic reasons.

“There are not a lot of exotics in the design itself,” R&C Management Group project manager Dan Bodell said. “There are some design concepts that are more about the teaching methods, but as far as the structure itself we have a one-story gym with administrative on the front and then a two-story classroom wing and the nice views of (Mount Hood).”

Although the Crestline design was the basis for the new Sifton facility, improvements have been made, according to Sue Steinbrenner, Evergreen Public Schools’ director of facilities.

“Our other prototype really had the media (center) self-contained within its own room,” she said. “So we put the libraries here front and center so you have to walk through it, which is ironically how a lot of our buildings from the 1970s are.

“It’s about being sensitive to noise issues and having spaces for the students to break out and choose how to interact,” she added. “The other big difference is splitting the commons from the gym so we can use the gym for after-hours activities and close down the academic wing and make it more about the community partnership.”

The new Sifton school will have a capacity of 550 students. A single-story wing will hold the gymnasium and administrative space, along with the media center and commons. A learning stair in the commons area will serve as the bridge to the two-story classroom wing. Outside, a playground area and a soccer field will be built.

The district’s bond program calls for construction to take place through 2025. Currently, three new elementary schools are being built: replacements for Sifton and Image, and a completely new one not yet named.

One advantage of using the same design prototype on those projects, Bodell said, is that representatives of the three general contractors involved – Pence Construction, Emerick Construction and Triplett Wellman Contractors – are meeting regularly to discuss progress and go over any possible hiccups.

“Sifton is a month ahead of the other two and these guys have the most learning curve,” Bodell said. “But they can pass that information on to others. We’re pretty happy – from the R&C standpoint, there’s been great support from the district.”

All three schools under construction are scheduled for delivery in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year.

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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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Woodburn-based builder Triplett Wellman is looking for subcontractors to work on the expansion of Gilkey International Middle School in the Forest Park neighborhood – the first phase of an expected four.

Heavy work on the is scheduled to span the 2017-18 academic year.

Portland architecture firm Hacker drew the plans. The building is L-shaped, with classrooms on the straightaways and common areas located in the knuckle of the “L.”

Though the site is sloped and difficult to access, Hacker associate principal Stefee Knudsen said, it has advantages – notably great, unique views. The building faces Portland to one direction, and Forest Park greenery to the other.

“It’s a little bit of the urban and a little bit of the forest,” she said.

The location also allows enough natural light inside that the school doesn’t require electric lighting, except in restrooms. Also, plans do not call for any active cooling systems. Testing revealed such temperature control would be necessary only in a few spots in the building, and likely only a handful of days annually, Knudsen said.

The project is enrolled in the Energy Trust of Oregon‘s Path to Net Zero energy efficiency program.

The curriculum of the Gilkey school, along with the accompanying French American Lower School, is accredited by the French government. Four other languages are also taught there – English, German, Mandarin and Spanish.

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Six Oregon projects were honored recently during the 2016 Gold Nugget Awards event, which recognizes excellence and innovation in complex design-build residential and housing-related efforts.

Two of the projects – 2125 Franklin and the Chehalem Cultural Center – received grand awards while the rest were named merit award winners in the international competition.

2125 Franklin, at the University of Oregon in Eugene, won in the “best campus housing – faculty or students residential – institutional use” category. The five-story, mixed-use project was designed by KTGY Architecture + Planning for developer American Campus Communities. Adroit Construction Co. was the builder.

The Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg was honored in the “judges’ special award of excellence – rehabilitation” category. The project was designed by Scott | Edwards Architecture and built by Triplett Wellman Contractors.

Scott | Edwards was part of the project team for two merit-level projects: the Albertina Kerr Louise Building in Gresham and the Canterbury residence in Portland. The Louise Building, built for Albertina Kerr Centers, was entered in the “best commercial project under 20,000 square feet” category. The Canterbury residence, built by iBuildPDX.com, was entered in the “best custom house under 4,000 square feet” category.

The Alameda, another Portland project, received a merit award in the “best renovation or restored single house” category. Chris Barlow Architects Inc. was the architect; the builder was Northwest Heritage Renovations.

The Rose Villa‘s Rose Villa pocket neighborhood and town center project earned a merit award in the “best senior housing – on the boards” category. Myhre Group Architects served as the design architect and interior designer while RLPS Architecture served as the architect of record. The general contractor was R&H Construction.

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Triplett Wellman is requesting subcontractor bids for the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Station #56/ South Operating Center. Bids are Due November 18, 2011 at 3:00 PM.

Scope of work: Construction of a new 20,000 sf wood framed 2-story building including masonry, metal skin, related site work and demolition of the old station.

Contact Nick Wellman or Tim McCullaugh with questions.

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Triplett Wellman, Inc., is looking for sub contractors for the Joesph Gale Elementary Bid Package 3, Building and Site Finishes Project. The bid date is June 2 at 3:00pm. There are many details for this sub bid request ad, so please see today’s 91��Ƶ for more details.

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Tripplet Wellman Construction is seeking sub contractors for the Walker Middle School Project Bid package #5, Helical Piers in Salem Oregon.  Bids are due on May 18th by 3 pm.

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Triplett Wellman is looking for Sub Contractors for the Historic Hood River City Hall Renovation. The bid date is April 21 at 3:00pm.  There is a pre-bid walk through on April 8 at 10:00am – that is mandatory for plumbing, HVAC and electrical contractors.  For more details please see the full sub bid request ad in the 91��Ƶ.

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