Published April 2004

Construction Briefs

Lynnwood Convention Center
picks contractor
Howard S. Wright has been hired to build the new Lynnwood Convention Center at a cost of nearly $12 million.

The new convention center is planned as the cornerstone of Lynnwood’s new city center. A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 23, and a grand opening is expected for April 2005.

Wright’s project manager, Ernie Emmett, is the son of the superintendent for the Alderwood Village Shopping Center project in 1963. The center is being replaced by the new convention facility.

New development planned in Monroe
Echelbarger Co. of Lynnwood has purchased 115 acres of land near Monroe and plans to build at least 50 houses at the site.

The deal, which closed in February, was worth $1.65 million, according to Craig Hill of Grubb & Ellis, who represented the sellers, the Phillips Trust. The site is near the Evergreen State Fairgrounds.

State board rejects
Island Crossing rezone
In March, a state hearings board rejected a Snohomish County Council rezone that had cleared the way for auto dealer Dwayne Lane to move his car lot to farmland at Island Crossing near Arlington.

The Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings board said the County Council violated state growth laws that protect farmlands when it expanded Arlington’s urban growth area to include Island Crossing.

Lane declined to comment on the decision. His son, Tom Lane, said in a prepared statement that the decision was “poorly written and poorly argued.” He said the family would continue its fight in court.

Dwayne Lane is part owner of 14.3 acres and has been leading an attempt to annex 266 acres of property, including 110 acres at Island Crossing, into Arlington.

Snohomish County’s Boundary Review Board was scheduled to review the annexation proposal March 22. The board, however, voted to extend its review until April 12 so it could consider the growth board's decision.

The county council also must revisit the issue. The state board gave Snohomish County until May 24 to comply.

Allied in final stages
of new Lynnwood church
Allied Construction Associates Inc. is in the final stages of construction of a worship facility that is turning heads in Lynnwood, according to Project Manager Keith Bjella.

“The architecture is just real unique,” Bjella said of the structure, which will house St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church. “It’s Middle Eastern architecture with domes and towers.”

The 28,500-square-foot brick church, located at 4016 204th St. SW, includes a central, gold-colored dome and two towers, also domed, according to church plans. The project cost is between $5 million and $6 million, said Bjella, whose company was first contacted by the church more than three years ago regarding the project.

Snohomish County Business Journal/ KIMBERLY HILDEN A new facility for St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church is under construction in Lynnwood, complete with brick exterior, graceful arched entryways and domes.

“Over a period of two years, we refined the scope of work, value-engineered the project and brought it within the budget of the church. We ended up breaking ground last summer and plan to finish up by late spring or early summer,” he said, noting that Ray Ernst of Seattle was the project architect.

When the church is finished, St. Mary’s will relocate from its current site just a couple miles away on the west side of I-5, at 20830 52 Ave. W. in Lynnwood, Bjella said.

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