All-weather construction

By KRISTI ALBERTSON - The Daily Inter Lake

Winter won't slow down Kalispell building projects

The old mailman's creed has expanded beyond the Postal Service in the Flathead Valley.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor biting north winds will keep contractors from working on construction sites this winter.

Winter weather predictions range from colder and snowier than usual (according to The Old Farmer's Almanac) to warmer and drier than normal, per the National Weather Service. Regardless, many construction companies plan ton continue their jobs throughout the next few months - although some hope to finish before the weather turns grim.

Starbucks, for example, plans to open its new store at Spring Prairie Center on U.S. 93 North next month. Originally, the store was scheduled to open at the end of November. Now it will open in mid-December, said Phil Smith, regional marketing manager.

For the most part, contractors plan to build through the winter.

In Lakeside, crews from Martel Construction will work to have a new brewery ready for its spring opening.

"You have to keep working through the winter. Otherwise, you might as well not live in Montana," administrative assistant Carly Williams said.

Tamarack Brew Pub and Grill is scheduled to open in March. The brewery is owned by Lanny McDonald (a National Hockey League Hall of Fame member), his wife, Ardell, and daughter and son-in-law Andra and Joshua Townsley.

At Hutton Ranch Plaza in Kalispell, builders will continue the work they began this fall.

"You will see a lot of construction going on through the winter," said developer Phil Harris. "This isn't the Kalispell of old."

Much of the site's infrastructure is in place. Hutton Ranch Road is finished and open, Harris said, and the new stoplight at the intersection near Costco is fully operational.

Crews are finishing paving and curbing work and will continue working on buildings, many of which are slated for completion before mid-2007.

First Interstate Bank's new $998,000 single-story building "has begun to go vertical," Harris said. The foundation has been laid and crews are putting up the building's steel frame. The bank is scheduled to open in late April or early May.

Also coming in May is the HuHot Mongolian Grill. The building's concrete slab has been poured and crews are ready to begin structural work, Harris said. An 18,000-square-foot retail building and 12,000-square-foot office building are in "just about the same position," he said. They should be completed in May as well.

Weather permitting, the $4.5 million, 14-screen movie theater will open in June. The exterior walls are roughly 60 percent complete, Harris said, and he expects crews to finish all of the interior and exterior walls by the end of the month. He hopes to have the roof finished by the end of December.

The foundation and underground work are completed for the new 55,000-square-foot Sportsman & Ski Haus store, Harris said. It's expected to open around the same time as the theaters.

Later in the summer, Flathead Bank will open on Hutton Ranch's southernmost pad. The bank's final plans are in the works, Harris said, and crews intend to begin construction this winter.

Crews also will start constructing a new Glacier Quilts building sometime during the winter. The store is finalizing its design for the northernmost pad and is expected to open this summer.

An as-yet-unnamed retail store will open in summer 2007 as well. Harris wouldn't disclose the retailer's name because the deal isn't final yet, but did say the foundation for the 6,000-square-foot building would be in the ground by March.

Work on another, slightly larger, building containing four or five "quick-service" restaurants also will begin in the spring.

"We will start construction probably as soon as we get a thaw on the last of the pad buildings," Harris said.

Quick-service restaurants serve food that is individually prepared but still intended to allow people to eat in under 45 minutes, like Quiznos or Qdoba, he explained, adding that those restaurants were just examples and weren't necessarily coming to Hutton Ranch. Harris has not yet completed negotiations with the restaurants that will occupy the 6,600-square-foot building.

"There may be a Mexican place, an Asian place, maybe an ice cream or hamburger place," he said.

At the other end of town, construction on the new Fun Beverage building is expected to continue through the winter. Crews broke ground on the $10 million building in March and will complete the job just over a year later.

"It is on schedule to be completed in April of 2007," said Paul Wachholz, owner of the wine, beer and pop distribution company. "Basically everything is coming along just about as planned."

Last week, Old School Station, the light industrial park where Fun Beverage is located, was hooked up to the city water system. Connecting to the sewer system has proved somewhat problematic, however. State highway storm drains were in the right of way for sewer and water lines, Wachholz said.

"It was supposed to be done in October, and now it probably won't be done until January or February," he said.

Even without sewer lines, crews are able to continue work at Old School Station, he said. "It's not holding up any construction at this time."

On Tuesday, crews finished the park's first layer of paving. If the fair weathers holds, they might be able to complete the second coat this week, Wachholz said. Other infrastructure work, including leveling pads, finishing sidewalks and installing street lights, will continue this winter.

"It's just a project that's about 65 to 75 percent complete," he said. "I think that they can get most of the stuff done" this winter.

Construction on new buildings will wait for warmer weather, however.

"At this time, we have sold some tracts, but nobody has planned to build yet until possibly spring," Wachholz said. "It's going to be hard to get into the ground during these winter months."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.