The Dirt: Travis Pattern and Foundry looking to expand
The longtime Spokane-based Travis Pattern and Foundry has submitted a request to Spokane County to build an addition to its existing 170,000-square-foot campus in north Spokane.
Founded in 1922 by Paul N. Travis, the foundry at 1413 E. Hawthorne Road, began as a small business producing patterns for sand casting, according to its website.
The fourth-generation, family-owned company later began producing self-propelled irrigation systems and now produces a wide variety of aluminum, bronze and iron-casting products that are sold worldwide.
The permit request filed on Aug. 7 seeks to add a 116-by-48 foot addition with a 50-foot wing. The project would add about 6,085 square feet to the existing industrial building.
Reached by phone, Hayden Tapani, project engineer for Travis Pattern and Foundry, said the addition is an industrial building but declined to say when he expects construction to begin or when its expected to be completed.
Garco Construction of Spokane is the contractor and the project architect is listed as Jason McDonald, who also works for Garco.
The cost of the project was estimated at about $2.2 million, according to the permit request filed with Spokane County.
Trucking company expansion
Produce Supply Express officials have submitted a request to build an addition to its existing facility at 4411 S. Grove Road in Spokane County.
Produce Supply Express last year was purchased by Kam-Way Transportation, Inc., of Sumner, Washington.
Lom Hutchins previously was part of the PSE ownership group and now works as general manager for the same facility being operated by Kam-Way.
The Spokane facility is listed as one of Kam-Way’s terminals. The company also has terminals in Hermiston and Portland in Oregon; Stockton, Fresno and Pomona in California, Reno; Phoenix; Blaine, Washington; and Surrey, B.C.
Kam-Way also acquired Rees Enterprizes Inc. and has merged that workforce of about 38 workers with the 46 employees of PSE at the South Grove Road facility, Hutchins said.
“We are full on the property. We just need more room,” Hutchins said.
Plans call for adding a two-story, 30-by-30 foot building that has a total of 1,730 square feet.
“We just got through the design phase and we are now putting dollars on it to see when we can get started and completed,” Hutchins said. “Hopefully, we’ll be doing it this fall.”
The contractor is Brian Samuelson, owner of Bsam General Contractor based in Cusick, Washington.
“It’s a separate structure and driver-services building,” Samuelson said. “It will add new showers and waiting rooms and offices upstairs.”
Part of the work includes regrading the existing parking lot and adding more parking for trucks, he said.
Depending on the start date, construction time could be as little as six months and up to a year, depending on a number of factors, Samuelson said.
The project architect is Eric Whitney of Eighty8 Architecture of Spokane.
The expected cost of the project was listed as $400,000, according to the building permit request.
Child care facility in Mead
Michele Bader-Bevins, owner of Munchkin Manor Childcare Center, has submitted a request with Spokane County to remodel an existing building to allow her to open a new facility in Mead.
Plans call for remodeling what had been a printing business and a hair salon at 12210 N. Market St. It’s just south of an existing Zip’s Drive-In and a couple blocks southeast of the Mead Sports Complex and Union Stadium.
Bader-Bevins said she has been operating a child care center in her home and is now moving the business, which caters to infants, toddlers and preschoolers, to the Market Street location.
She said most of the work will include remodeling the kitchen and painting the interior of the building. She hopes to have the work completed this fall.
The facility must undergo an inspection from the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Family Services, which submits the necessary licenses, Bader-Bevins said.
“We hope to get started by Oct. 1,” she said.