Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current, April 01, 2004, Page 3, Image 3

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    Smoke Signals 3
APRIL 1, 2004
NEW ROOMS NEEDED, LODGE EXPANSION UNDERWAY
LODGE continued
from front page
Dugger, Guest Services Director for
the Spirit Mountain Casino and
Lodge. "There will be some addi
tional suites developed, but for the
most part, it will be comparable."
The project will more than double
the existing 100 guest rooms in the
lodge.
Contractor for the project is Seattle
based Howard S. Wright Construc
tion Company. Architect is the Las
Vegas-based Friedmutter Group.
Wright has built banks, museums
and educational facilities and
Friedmutter has designed Station
Casino Inc. properties in Las Vegas.
Portland-based VickersNelson Asso
ciates, which provides construction
management services to public and
private construction project owners,
is manager of the project.
As the project has developed, ar
chitectural drawings and boards
bearing potential design elements
have been leaning against walls in
the halls of the Tribal Council of
fices. The boards feature photos of
furniture and samples of uphol
stery, curtains, wall paper, tiles,
wood inlays and so on for the new
facility.
Tribal Council member Bob
Haller noted the appeal of the color
and design selections.
In addition, architectural plans
anticipated additional phases for
future expansion. "We're looking
at potentially expanding to a large
meeting area," said Leno of a facil
ity intended to seat as many as 500.
Other plans also are afoot.
"It works," said Leno, "because we
see it as a real need."
Like the success of the recently
completed convenience store
project, this expansion will be a "design-build"
project, meaning that
many design issues will be resolved
in the building process. See
Sidebar
Completion is expected in Febru
ary or March, 2005.
Rooms A With A View A casino guest looks at one of the early designs for the Spirit Mountain Lodge expansion.
Expansion aims at alleviating the Lodge's 95-percent occupancy rate, and moving closer to the goal of establishing Spirit
Mountain as a regional, destination resort. Already, Spirit Mountain is the number one tourist attraction in the state.
THE DESIGN-BUILD OPTION
The design-build option saves money because the architectural team does not
have to fully develop construction packages for the bidding process, according to
TribarEngineer Eric Scott, who used this option for the convenience store com
pleted in December.
"They can develop construction drawings that can be sequenced as construction
progresses," said Scott. The approach often results in time savings "because you
don't have to fully develop the drawings and go through the bid administration
process."
"This delivery system is efficient where the buildings are either standardized or
contractors are selected with specific experience for a particular building program,"
said Scott.
"With the convenience store, for example, this was an efficient system because
we selected a contractor with very specific experience in convenience stores and
fuel stations. Essentially, it significantly saves on the architectural costs. What
happens is that the architect becomes part of the contractor team rather than working independently as the
owner's representative.
"The disadvantage is that you lose some of that architectural representation during the construction
process." That could translate into a contractor using less expensive fixtures to increase his profit.
Because there is no competitive bidding in the process, an owner also may lose the savings that come when
companies compete to do a job, said Scott.
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Tribal Engineer
Eric Scott
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i
Playtime The Grand Ronde Tribal
Wellness Department hosted a Family Swim
Night at Dallas Aquatic Center on Wednes
day, March 24, as part of a Indian Health
Service diabetes prevention grant. 100
people came to the Swim Night, including
Tribal Wellness Secretary Egypt Powley,
above, with
daughter Nikia
Mooney. At right
are friends Jessica
Wolf, Helen
McDaniel and
Katie Phillips.
Photos by Peta Tinda
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