People protesting against Ebenal General Inc., general contractor for Western’s Buchanan Towers residence hall addition, were in the area of the Buchanan Towers construction site on south campus this morning. The Laborers Union has a labor dispute with Ebenal.
Wendy Bohlke, senior counsel in the Office of the Attorney General at Western Washington University, has released the following information regarding permissible and impermissible activities for WWU faculty and staff during the legislative season.
Legally permissible activities for faculty and staff:
Western Washington University rose gardener Heidi Zeretzke will hold a rose pruning class at noon on Feb. 11 in the rose garden by Old Main on the WWU campus.
For more information, call Gary Hodge at (360) 650-2878.
The 82,000-square-foot Biology Building at Western Washington University houses the Biology Department -- specifically, the department's programs in cell and molecular biology, ecology, marine biology and organismal biology. Let's take a look inside. Photos by Michael Leese | University Communications intern
If Whatcom County's economy is hoping for construction to turn things around, it may be waiting at least another year.
While there are pockets of activity, this year is shaping up to be a challenging one for general contractors, particularly when it comes to commercial projects.
"2010 is looking bleak, but there are some opportunities to make money," said Liz Evans, northern district manager of the Associated General Contractors of Washington. "Local contractors are still looking outside the area for work, but there are a few major projects around here later this year."
Excavation for the new glass stairwell foundation immediately south of the Miller Hall bell tower began Thursday, Jan. 28. The contractor will continue excavation of the area this morning. Excavated earth will be hauled off site by trucks that will enter and leave the site in front of the bell tower.
Trucks will cross the pedestrian entry path to Miller Hall approximately every 30 minutes until the excavation is complete.
On Monday, Jan. 25, Dawson Construction will begin construction of barrier walls inside Miller Hall corridors. Shortly after that, demolition for the new electrical room in the dirt crawl space area of the basement in the north east corner of 1940s building will begin. Several other areas will be impacted as part of this work. The interior ramp at the north end of the building will be demolished, as will the adjacent office suite (Room 153) above the basement electrical room. Office suite 155, which is above suite 153, also will be part of the demolition area.
On Jan. 13, crews from Dawson Construction began removal and demolition of the brick wall at the north stair tower of Miller Hall on the Western Washington University campus. This is the wall south of the London Plane tree and south of the bell tower entrance.
A request to consider a plan for an urban village on King Mountain tops this year's applications for changes to zoning and the city's growth plan.
Alliance Properties submitted an application to have the city review and approve a master plan for an urban village on the mountain area, which is generally east of Wal-Mart along Meridian Street and north of the north end of James Street Road.
It's one of six requests for changes to the city's comprehensive plan, which governs two decades of the city's growth. The requests were received by Dec.
State Sen. Dale Brandland (R-Bellingham) visited the Western Washington University campus on Wednesday, Jan. 6, for a tour of the ongoing construction at Miller Hall.
During his tour, Brandland and WWU President Bruce Shepard stopped to say a few words to members of the construction crew, from Dawson Construction.
"As bad as the economy is right now, I shudder to think where we would be if we didn't have projects like this," Brandland said. "We're going to recover from this, and stuff like this is really what's going to get us back."
House Capital Budget Chairman Hans Dunshee today rolled out a proposal to issue $860 million in state bonds to pay for energy-efficiency upgrades at schools across the state.
He's calling for a referendum, meaning voters would get the final say in November.
The measure, which Hanshee bills as "The Jobs Act," is a slimmed-down version of his $3 billion bond proposal last year, which failed to pass the Legislature.
The idea is to put people back to work while also making public schools more energy efficient through new lighting, insulation and other upgrades.
People ideally would like to keep Whatcom Middle School students and staff separate from all other Bellingham schools while their school is rebuilt, according to results from a new survey.
The Bellingham School District used an online survey to gather input and suggestions about where Whatcom students and staff should be housed during the 2010-11 school year and beyond. Students and staff have been split by grade level among three existing Bellingham schools since Whatcom was severely damaged in a Nov.
For many people, the decade from 2000 through 2009 brought a transformation of Bellingham and Whatcom County, leaving this community feeling less like an overgrown small town and more like a small city.
"There are a lot more new people in town," said Taimi Gorman, Fairhaven businesswoman. "I can go places and not know anybody."
Countywide, population rose by 26,274 people during the decade, according to state estimates, topping off at 193,100.
Almost a year after opening to students, the Academic Instructional Center at Western Washington University has been awarded LEED certification.
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a set of criteria for environmentally sustainable construction. The certification is overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Western Washington University has won the 2009 Green Cleaning Grand Award for Schools and Universities from American School and University magazine, the top award given in the category nationally.
"We're honored to receive this prestigious award and to be recognized as the national leader in green cleaning. We work hard every year to make our cleaning practices more sustainable and environmentally friendly, and are always seeking ways to improve - and I think that shows in awards such as these," said Tim Wynn, WWU's director of Facilities Management in a press release.
A major dormitory addition at Western Washington University should begin construction in about three months, providing jobs at a time of rising local unemployment.
Construction of the five-story, 100-bed addition to Buchanan Towers, at Bill McDonald Parkway and South Campus Drive, is estimated to cost $11.6 million.
Depending on what ends up in the state's capital projects budget, Western Washington University's long-awaited renovation of Miller Hall might not happen any time soon.
The state Senate's proposed 2009-11 capital budget includes about $57.5 million to renovate Miller Hall, one of the older buildings on campus and Western's main capital budget request this biennium. But there's no money for Miller Hall in the House's proposed budget.
While a number of colleges and universities across the country have seen their bond ratings downgraded during the current recession, Western Washington University retains its strong A2/A+ bond rating, with a stable outlook.
Earlier this month, WWU issued $14.28 million in bonds to finance construction of a new addition to the Buchanan Towers residence hall on South Campus. The net blended cost of capital, based on the A2 bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service and A+ bond rating from Standard and Poor’s Corp., was a 4.68 percent interest rate.
Western Washington University plans to test its capability to quickly and effectively respond to an earthquake during a drill on Wednesday, April 22, that also will involve a test of its emergency steam whistle and notification system known as Western Alert.
The City of Bellingham is holding a community wide exercise intended to engage willing partners in the process of developing and testing damage assessment capabilities during disaster events.
The Humanities Building at Western Washington University reopened Tuesday, July 14, after asbestos found in the ceiling had closed the building temporarily.
On Monday, a contractor dislodged some ceiling material that contained asbestos and did not properly bag and seal it before removing it from the building, said Gayle Shipley, director of the university's Environmental Health & Safety department. Students, faculty and staff were evacuated from the building as a precaution.
Western Washington University has selected a new supplier of renewable energy certificates – the EarthEra Renewable Energy Trust – following a competitive process in which bids were reviewed for their environmental merit using a methodology developed by Western students, faculty and staff.
A new waterfront campus for Western Washington University should feel like a part of the larger community.
That was a key message Tuesday, May 12, from architects working to plan that campus, presenting their ideas at a forum in the university's Academic Instructional Center.
Western Washington University's Academic Instructional Center (AIC) received the honor award at the Civic Design Awards held by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Washington Council on May 14.
The AIA presented WWU with one of two honor awards that pay tribute to excellence in public architecture.
Western Washington University's Humanities Building was evacuated and closed Monday morning, July 13 due to the possible release of asbestos in the air.
While doing renovation work around 9:30 a.m., a contractor removed an asbestos-contaminated piece of ceiling on the second floor, according to Gayle Shipley, director of WWU's Environmental Health and Safety department.
The ceiling piece was not properly bagged and sealed before being hauled from the building, possibly causing asbestos exposure to the rest of the building.
