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Port of Seattle/Schlecht Construction
An audit of the Port of Seattle suggested an overhaul of its contracting system.
Port Audit Recommends Changes to Contracting
 Seattle - The Port of Seattle will review its contracting processes and focus in particular on documentation and record-keeping as a result of the recommendations contained in a performance audit made public by the Port Commission. It also will put more focus on developing its small and disadvantaged business programs.
Those were among the recommendations of a performance audit performed for the port by Talbot, Korvola & Warwick, or TKW, a Portland-based accounting firm specializing in performance audits.
The performance audit was directed by the commission and primarily aimed at an investigation of how the port's capital program and capital costs compare to other agencies of similar size.
A second area of emphasis for the audit was to look at the port's effort to allow small and disadvantaged businesses to take advantage of economic opportunities. The audit report called in particular for a more centralized and focused staff organization, additional outreach to the small-business community, and for communication and training both for port staff and others.
Condos to Replace Pink Elephant Icon
Situated next to the famous pink elephant sign at downtown Seattle’s Elephant Car Wash is a parcel of land that, until recently, most developers considered a white elephant.
All that changed when Levin Menzies & Associates, a San Francisco Bay Area company, hired Weber + Thompson, a Seattle architecture, interior design and planning firm, to figure out how to build a condominium high-rise on the challenging property near the Space Needle.
Weber + Thompson collaborated with Vancouver, B.C.-based engineering firm Glotman Simpson to design the 29-story ICON project. City officials have approved the master-use permit for the slender condominium tower, and construction is scheduled to begin in early 2008. Weber + Thompson also designed Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, Seattle’s first tall-and-slender high-rise to be entitled and built under the city’s new zoning code. Glotman Simpson has diverse structural engineering experience in its hometown of Vancouver, B.C., where tall, slender towers on small lots are the norm.
Vet Clinic Doctor’s Pet Project
Vancouver, Wash. - Dr. Joe Giffoni’s dream of owning a brand new veterinary clinic is only months away from becoming reality. The 3,000-sq-ft clinic broke ground in April. It features a rustic, country-style exterior design that includes a cultured stone veneer accent. The entry and waiting areas sport ceramic tile and open beam ceilings. The new building is two blocks east of Companion’s previous location.
Schlecht Project Manager Bryan Halbert said that veterinary clinics pose special challenges for contractors. “Each area – surgery, exam, treatment, isolation and kennels – has its own requirements for ventilation, plumbing and electrical.
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