Getting There: Spokane County Public Works’ new headquarters breathes new life into former contamination site

The Spokane County crews overseeing the largest road network in the state have some brand new digs.

Over the summer, Spokane County wrapped up work on a $15 million headquarters for the Public Works department, finally bringing the municipality’s sign shop, signal technicians, bridge crew, materials lab and training grounds all under one roof.

Located on the former Vermiculite Northwest site on the corner of Maple Street and Maxwell Avenue, the public works operations building represents a substantial redevelopment to a contaminated site long the ire of the West Central Neighborhood.

The county bought the land in 2000, nearly 30 years after W.R. Grace and Co. closed its Vermiculite Northwest plant there. That plant processed vermiculite ore brought to the site in rail cars from the company’s mine in Libby, Montana, and turned it into attic insulation called Zonolite.

That insulation, however, was ridden with cancer-causing asbestos. The mine featured a large deposit that contaminated most of the vermiculite, and in turn, much of the ground and former W.R. Grace structures at the processing facility.

The contamination was identified by the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 2000s, but the cleanup would carry on for another decade.

Soil removals have occurred several times on the site and in the surrounding neighborhood, and the highest concentrations of asbestos, located in the northwest corner where the processing and handling buildings once stood, were capped with asphalt in 2007.

The new public works site not only breathes new life into the neighborhood, but also represents a “generational investment” in the county’s road operations, said Senior Director of Public Works Kyle Twohig.

“It’s really allowed for a greater synergy of our operation; all of our teams can collaborate better and more efficiently for delivery of services,” Twohig said. “They’re out into the field faster, our response times are going to be quicker … We’re just able to do our jobs better.”

Commissioner Chris Jordan, who represents the West Central Neighborhood, said the project is an investment in public works, and in his district. He played a key role in seeing to the removal of the last few remnants of the vermiculite processing facility, which were long considered nuisance properties, ahead of the construction.

“I’m glad to see the dilapidated structures that were a magnet for bad behavior are gone, and I’ve continued to receive positive feedback from the neighborhood on that one,” Jordan said.

The site has long been used as a staging area for county materials, and to ensure operations were not disturbed during the department’s busiest part of the year, the county undertook a progressive design -build process for the project. It’s the largest project the county’s approached using the method, which Twohig said allows for more flexibility.

Twohig said the staged process allowed contractor GarCo construction to complete the 16,000-square-foot office and shop building and nearby 11,500-square-foot premanufactured storage warehouse two months ahead of schedule and $250,000 under budget. A pull-through lane for the county’s rigs separates the two structures on the east end of the property.

The office and shop building features individualized spaces along the north side for the traffic signal team, the sign shop, bridge crew and the materials lab, with a long, wide corridor down the middle where crews can mingle. To the west are a handful of offices and a large meeting room.

It’s a large building, with as much going on as the crews inside. In addition to managing a road network of 5,100 lane miles, Spokane County oversees 127 signals, including roughly 80 in Spokane Valley.

Along those roadways are tens of thousands of road signs, Twohig said, often in need of replacement and repair.

At the height of construction season, experts in the material labs are running multiple tests to ensure the concrete and asphalt in use will stand the test of time.

The new work spaces feature upgraded equipment as well, including the county’s first concrete curer to speed up the testing process. Twohig said it’s been rewarding to see the public works crews enjoy what he called a “once in a few generations” investment.

“That’s the coolest thing about this project,” Twohig said. “Our guys are gritty and tough. They have always operated out of hand-me-down everything, so something’s end of life when we get it.”

“Our radios – the sheriffs literally run them into the ground, and then we get them and run them for another 20 years,” he added with a chuckle.

For Jordan, improved public works operations are only part of what makes the project a success. He said the neighborhood has already voiced their pleasure in seeing the derelict buildings that would attract criminal behavior replaced with a secure, bustling work yard, and that its creation makes another long-term county project possible.

Prior to the new operations building, the signs and signals crews were based out of a garage at the corner of Gardner Avenue and Cedar Street. The block is also home to the Spokane Regional Stabilization Center, which the county plans to bolster in the months to come to include crisis relief services. Jordan and his fellow commissioners have already devoted millions in opioid settlement funding toward the project, and secured around $3 million from the state Legislature.

Jordan said responding to the opioid crisis is one of his priorities as a commissioner, and that he’s looking forward to sharing more about the “flagship project” in the months to come. Relocating the public works elements to the new campus was instrumental in allowing the stabilization and crisis relief center to move forward.

“It’s a win-win,” Jordan said. “It’s great to see those opportunities, where you get a benefit for your operations in one respect, and then we can help achieve another county goal on the other hand.”