Borough moves forward with $7 million addition

PALMER — The courtyard of an existing building isn’t exactly the easiest place to build something.

In the case of the $7 million addition to the Dorothy Swanda Jones building in downtown Palmer — headquarters for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough — the courtyard had a whole bunch of stuff in it — the main water supply line, the main transformer for the building and a fuel tank were all there.

Wait, a fuel tank? Fuel for what?

“It was for the backup generator, which was also in the courtyard. It also had to be moved,” said Jeff Walden, who is overseeing the project for the borough Department of Public Works. “All that utilitarian type of stuff was in the courtyard, which takes a lot of coordination with (Matanuska Electric Association) and the city of Palmer and a lot of different agencies, and it’s just a lot of work.”

Walden’s department is one that has moved into new digs to accommodate construction. In a press release last week, the borough announced public works had moved into a building owned by the University of Alaska at 533 E. Fireweed Ave. in Palmer.

Shay Throop, project superintendent for Pinnacle Construction, the borough’s contractor, said that adding on to what is essentially an 80-year-old building also can be challenging.

“There’s about a million unforeseen circumstances,” Throop said.

So, when on a tour of the addition Monday, Throop pointed to the line of the old façade; was the wood he was touching 80 years old?

“That probably is,” he said. “There was another layer over top of it we took off, a more modern layer.”

The addition will add office space and a meeting room to the building. Over in the meeting room, Throop showed how the dais where assembly members will sit is 40 inches higher than where the audience is seated.

Behind the dais is a hallway and behind that individual offices for each assembly member.

By the end of the week, Throop said, windows from the old building will have been moved to the façade of the new addition. The windows had been replaced just a few years ago and the borough wanted to hold on to them. Walden said the move is cost-effective.

“Utilizing the existing windows will save money while preserving the authentic appearance of the structure,” he says in an email last week.

Offices on that side of the building, with those windows in them, Throop pointed out, will have great views of the mountains in Palmer’s backyard.

“I think this is the mayor’s office here,” Throop said, looking out those big windows.

As he did, he talked about four gigantic pieces of industrial equipment in the parking lot.

“Those four air handlers will be craned up on the roof in about a month,” Throop said.

In his email, Walden says the plan is to have construction complete this year. Excavation started in June 2012 and “construction is on schedule for June 2013 occupancy.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.