Construction is about to start on a $35 million project to construct a five-building Pierce County maintenance facility on a 46-acre site at Frederickson. The project is a partnership between Pierce County and the Port of Tacoma that will improve Pierce County road operations and spur economic development activities in the Frederickson Industrial Area.
A groundbreaking ceremony at 1 p.m. Sept. 28 will signal the project’s start. County Executive John W. Ladenburg, County Councilmember Roger Bush and Port of Tacoma Commissioner R. Ted Bottiger will speak. The public event will be held on site near 46th Avenue and 200th Street East.
“Frederickson is the key to Pierce County’s future economic growth. This new facility and related road projects will have a significant, positive impact in the Frederickson Industrial Area’s development,” Ladenburg said.
The county’s new complex totaling 160,000 square feet of space under roof, called the Central Maintenance Facility, is the project’s centerpiece. It will be constructed at 5000 200th St. E. on property purchased from the Port. Completion is scheduled for May 2007.
The CMF will house employees, equipment , materials and supplies that currently are at the Puyallup Shop near 160th Street East and Meridian, Elk Plain Shop near South 224th and SR 7, and the Equipment Services Division near East 112th and Portland Avenue. Some elements of the Purdy and Lakewood shops will move to the new facility. In addition, road operations administration employees will move to the CMF from the Medical Examiner’s Building at 3619 Pacific Ave.
The complex includes a 31,400 square foot Administration Building that will include a space for community meetings, the first large public meeting space in Fredrickson, and a public art component. Other buildings are Equipment Services Division (ESD), 25,344 s.f.; medium vehicle storage, 33,408 s.f.; large vehicle storage, 42,240 s.f.; fuel/wash, 12,343; and sand/salt storage, 33,408.
The need for centralizing the county’s road maintenance and operations and equipment services divisions has been recognized since the mid 1990s. A determination was made in 2002 to combine the two road shops and ESD at the earliest possible time. “The efficiencies associated with the new facility will provide an estimated $8 million in savings during the first 20 years of operation,” said Brian Ziegler, public works and utilities director. “Consolidation of staff, equipment and inventory (materials and supplies) will reduce the need for purchasing multiple pieces of equipment and hiring staff with duplicate responsibilities.”
The centralized location will allow for a more efficient and coordinated response from the CMF and smaller satellite shops that will be operating in Lakewood, Purdy and Bonney Lake.
As part of the county’s purchase of the site from the port for $4.1 million, the county and port will jointly develop the Canyon Road extension from 192nd to 200th streets and also 196th Street providing access to the CMF from Canyon Road. In addition, 192nd Street will be raised above the flood plain to prevent the arterial from being flooded during periods of heavy rain, and a traffic signal will be installed on Canyon Road at the 192nd Street and 200th Street intersections.
“None of these projects would be possible without the partnership formed between the county and port,” said Councilmember Bush.
“The certainty of road improvements within the industrial area is resulting in firm commitments of business relocations to Frederickson,” said Denise Dyer, the county’s economic development manager.
