LYNNWOOD – Eddie Tadlock viewed it as a good omen when the weather shifted Thursday morning just as a good crowd assembled to watch workmen hoist the final steel beam into place for the city’s new convention center.
“The skies opened up,” said Tadlock, general manager for the facility expected to be completed in March 2005.
Nearly 100 people gathered at the intersection of 196th Street SW and 37th Avenue W. just off I-5 to watch workers “raise the roof” and listen to officials talk about the importance of the project.
The 55,000-square-foot facility, with about half dedicated to meeting and exhibition space, is expected to be the catalyst for a bigger city center project planned by Lynnwood officials.
The $12 million building is expected to be joined within another five years or so with a 6,500-seat performing arts center. Other ideas for the area include a branch college campus or a public Olympic-sized swimming pool.
The mid-sized facility is expected to generate as much as $10 million a year in revenue.
“It’s strengths include a convenient location, a high value product and on-site parking,” said Mike Echelbarger, chairman of Lynnwood’s Public Facilities District.
Attendees at Thursday’s event got an opportunity to sign the last beam before it was fastened to the center. Tadlock said completion of the structural steel means the project is about a third of the way through.
Workers plan to add the metal decking for the roof, then start pouring the concrete flooring areas next week.
Tadlock noted the project is on time and below budget.
A key savings came from buying the steel for the building at the right time, before a recent increase in price.
“We really got lucky in a lot of respects,” he said. “We got ours (the steel) before the prices went crazy.”
Tadlock said he expects the building to be finished on time, in part because prime contractor Howard S. Wright plans to hold its annual meeting in the building in the spring of 2005.
He said officials have ribbed the contractor that it would be pretty embarrassing if the meeting had to be delayed because the facility wasn’t ready.
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