Bruce Winer Sta Plaza Construction Project Puts Professional Problem Solver To The Test

If Bruce Winer learns by solving problems, The Plaza was his doctoral dissertation.

The Spokane Transit Authority project was months behind schedule and way over budget when the construction manager was hired full time to clear bottlenecks that were slowing progress.

It was January 1995, Winer recalled, and Shea Construction Inc., the general contractor, needed guidance on 140 separate items.

STA did not have the staff to process the deluge of inquiries, he said. Communication between STA, the architect and contractor had all but broken down.

When snags cropped up, they festered.

Winer had watched the situation deteriorate, first as a member of a civilian committee monitoring the project, then as a part-time consultant to the STA staff.

Finally, a Seattle claims consultant recommended he be given complete authority to represent STA on site.

Winer started to whittle away the “to do” list.

For example, he said, concrete poured over structural slabs had curled along the seams. Nobody knew how to fix the damage, including Winer.

He retained an outside specialist who quickly suggested repairs, and the project resumed.

The long list of sore points was erased in four weeks, Winer said.

“It’s a prime example of what I do,” he said. “There’s a problem every day.”

STA Director Allen Schweim credited Winer with assuming an ombudsman role at The Plaza.

Though diplomatic, he said, Winer “wasn’t afraid to call it like he saw it.

“He had a very positive, productive influence.”

Winer started accruing experience in construction while growing up. His father was a contractor in the San Diego area, and Winer said he joined a development company shortly after getting his degree from San Diego State in 1981.

He shifted into project management, working with ever larger firms, until forming a development and construction company with two partners in the mid-1980s.

The company did $25 million in projects over six years, then dissolved when the California real estate soured.

“There wasn’t enough to develop in Southern California,” he said.

Winer and his wife, Kathleen, set about scouting for new places to live and work. Avid hikers and skiers, they were attracted to Spokane by the quality of life and opportunities for someone with Bruce’s skills.

He moved north in August 1991 to start a new construction management operation for Kiemle & Hagood Co., the Spokane real estate firm.

But that relationship faltered because, Winer said, he had become too accustomed to working on his own. He and Larry Purnell formed a partnership - Winer Purnell & Co. - that lasted a year before, ironically, Purnell headed to Newport Beach in Southern California.

Purnell will be replaced next month by David Cooper, and the name of the business will be changed to Winer Cooper Partnership.

Winer contrasted his experience with The Plaza with his work on two other Spokane projects, the Cox Cable headquarters and new funeral home at Riverside Memorial Park.

Cox officials, he said, understood early on that they did not have the background or time to oversee construction. They retained Winer to work with the architects and Cox staff to refine the design and identify potential construction hangups.

Winer said the result was a project with only 12 project-driven change orders that increased construction costs by less than 1 percent.

The Plaza’s costs ballooned 25 percent, inflated by more than 200 change orders, he said. Many should have been picked up at the blueprint stage.

Backers of the $2 million funeral home acted as their own general contractor, but subbed all the work out. Winer said he was hired for a flat fee to make sure change orders were minimal and maintain communication among the different crews on the site, where he posted a superintendent.

Construction was completed three months ahead of time and almost 10 percent under budget. Although Winer did not receive any bonus for that performance, the superintendent did.

Hassle-free projects may be a comfort to clients, but Winer said he enjoys those that provide some schooling.

“You don’t learn a lot from the easy projects,” he said. “You learn from problems.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo