On Wednesday, July 14, workers and local dignitaries joined together to celebrate the “topping out” of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s new consolidated rental car facility. When the new structure opens in spring of 2012, it will house all rental car related operations for the airport.

The ceremony, which by most accounts dates back to ancient Europe, marks the completion of the building’s basic structure. After the mandatory speeches, the dignitaries and labor representatives each signed the large steel beam that acted as a back drop for the day’s ceremony.

Bedecked with a banner representing the Iron Workers Local 86, an American flag on one end and an evergreen tree on the other, the beam was lifted by one of the large tower cranes and “flown” around the job site before being maneuvered into place on top of the structure.

With the final piece of structural steel in place, the construction project is around the half way point with a lot of work remaining in order to meet the scheduled opening date in early 2012.

Speakers at the event included Dave Soike, the Deputy Managing Director of Sea-Tac Airport, Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton, SeaTac Mayor Terry Anderson, rental car industry spokeswoman Lorie Tallarico, King County Labor Council AFL-CIO board member Lee Newgent, and Jack Beaudoin, Vice President and General Manager for Turner Construction.

All of the speakers emphasized the degree of cooperation and coordination required across multiple agencies, including the Port of Seattle, City of SeaTac, and the construction company and labor unions, for the project to move ahead and be successful despite roadblocks along the way.

The project was paused in December 2008 when economic conditions deteriorated. Construction resumed in July 2009 after the Port approved the sale of $317 million in revenue bonds to help fund the $419 million project. Almost the entire cost of the project will be paid back by fees paid by rental customers.

In the meantime, over 3,000 family-wage jobs will be generated over the life of the project and the City of SeaTac will collect nearly $2 million in tax revenue.

Much was made of the focus on minimizing the environmental impact. Turner Construction General Manager Jack Beaudoin stated that 95% of the materials used in constructing the facility were recycled, and that nearly 99% of construction waste leaving the site is being recycled. Beaudoin also declared the structure will be “salmon safe” with 85% of the car wash water reclaimed, filtered and reused. LEED certification is also being pursued for the facility

Once the new rental car facility opens, it will bring together operations that today are located at the airport and scattered across several off-site locations. In the process it will increase the number of companies providing cars from the five available at the airport today to a total of eleven. It will also free up more than 3,200 parking spaces in the main terminal garage.

Photographer Michael Brunk attended today’s ceremony and assembled the following slideshow. Click on the images to advance.

Click to Play Michael Brunk’s Photo Slideshow

Since a lot of our readers have eschewed traditional media for online media, you may not have seen it.

So, as a favor to all BTB readers, here is Mayor Joan’s piece in its entirety, as it appeared in today’s edition:

Recent criticisms of earmarks that the Washington congressional delegation has secured are more than unfortunate — they are unfair. They mask the many positive results that our members of Congress deliver for us. Their efforts in the other Washington help communities throughout our state address many needs of our residents and businesses.

In our case, the city of Burien — with just 31,410 people — is working hard to recover from the loss of taxes caused by Sea-Tac Airport’s new third runway. Since airports are required to buy homes in runway flight paths because of noise and safety concerns, this removes properties from the tax rolls.

Additionally, our city — along with every other local jurisdiction in this state — suffers the effects of tax-cutting initiatives. With less money coming in, cities have less to spend on critical responsibilities such as public safety, streets, economic development, parks and environmental protection.

While our congressional delegation cannot secure funding for the hundreds of requests received, members always carefully weigh the merits of each and try to advance the most worthy ones. Fortunately for Burien and other communities, our delegation often succeeds in helping us, and we sincerely appreciate that.

Thanks to a few modest earmarks secured by Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and the rest of our delegation, Burien obtained funding for critical infrastructure for our Town Square project. In turn, that helped attract more than $100 million in private investment.

Without that help our bold vision of new downtown shops, housing, City Hall, regional library and a wonderful new park, and the hundreds of jobs associated with Burien’s “extreme makeover” would still be just a dream.

Other vital projects progressing thanks to congressional assistance include a new Metro transit center and a future transit-oriented development project in downtown Burien, plus improvements to the hazardous state Route 518/509 interchange in Burien and the widening of eastbound state Route 518 near the airport.

Furthermore, federal funding to save salmon has come to Puget Sound only because our delegation secures it every year, as this is never included in the current administration’s budget. Congressional assistance enabled Burien and our regional, state and federal partners to improve a portion of our city’s shoreline for salmon habitat, and we hope to restore our whole shoreline soon.

By getting projects ready to go, we have been able to work with our delegation to get the federal government to pitch in a bit. While we expect to continue to need their help, especially with our effort to revitalize the area next to the airport, eventually these investments will help us build up our local revenues and rely less on federal assistance.

We cannot imagine our city’s future had we not received the congressional assistance that led to our downtown redevelopment. If executive branch officials in D.C. were the only ones to decide how to spend federal funds, our lovely city — along with many others — would probably not see a dime of our residents’ taxes returned to help the community.

Joan McGilton is mayor of Burien.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I

The high at SeaTac Airport today was 90 degrees, and yes, we’re very proud that it was .3 degrees warmer at our place.

We hope everyone enjoyed this brief taste of summer.  Tomorrow should be considerably cooler.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled Spring…

The department plans to reassign a patrol supervisor with broad investigative experience to the 12-member detective unit. To fill that vacancy, Public Information Officer Mike Murphy will be reassigned from administrative duties to a squad car, Murphy said Wednesday.

Three people have been killed and two others wounded in the past three months in a city that generally sees one a homicide a year. The latest happened Sunday when two men were gunned down outside restaurant overlooking a city-owned golf course.

“We’re taking everything we can and throwing it at the problem,” Murphy said.

The sudden spike of violence couldn’t have happened at a worse time. This year, Tukwila has been celebrating its centennial anniversary with events promoting the city as a vibrant community with parks, urban trails, and regional venues beyond the Westfield Mall at Southcenter.

It has been frustrating for city leaders who invested about $500,000 in a yearlong calendar of promotions and public events, including community festivals, a soccer tournament, a culinary fair and a jazz concert by musician and former Tukwila resident Walt Wagner.

“We’re promoting all the positives of Tukwila and all the good things we have to offer and sometimes it seems like you’re treading up a waterfall,” said Mayor Jim Haggerton, who took office this year.

“But we’re not going to let them affect the positive things going on. We’re going full-steam ahead with our centennial plans,” he said.

Some neighborhood block watch groups have been concerned and Haggerton has assured them that recent incidents aren’t happening citywide.

Tukwila, referred to as the “crossroads” between Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport and South King County, boasts a population of about 18,000 that quadruples during the day. It is known for its regional shopping mall at Southcenter, which sits at the convergence of Interstates 5 and 405 just south of Seattle.

Police don’t see a pattern in the shootings, other than they’ve happened in public areas. The department might consider extra patrols or an emphasis detail if officers can isolate a factor in the violence. It’s not surprising that given Tukwila’s geography, rival groups from different areas might wind up confronting each other in the city, Murphy said.

“We’ve just been having chance meeting between rivals who have some sort of beef and it escalates to violence,” Murphy said. “There is no increase in the overall crime, just the severity of the crime that’s occurring.”

The recent cases under investigation include

• Devon Tramaine Guidry, 24, was killed Sunday outside Gordon’s on the Green, a restaurant overlooking Foster Golf Links. Guidry was one of two men shot during an argument after a jazz-style party attended by celebrities that included Gary Payton and Bruce Williams, who co-wrote a book on hip-hop artist and producer Dr. Dre.
• Rogers Jovan Ward, 24, was shot and killed March 15 during an argument in the 5700 block of South 152nd Street. Police have identified the suspect as Carlos W. Ellison III.
• A 21-year-old man was wounded March 12 in gunfire between several people outside the Southcenter mall. Police arrested two suspects who were later released.
• Allen Winston-Stewart, 24, was fatally shot in a car on Feb. 20 at South 116th Street near Tukwila International Boulevard.The recent cases represent the most violent cycle of city crime since Tukwila first annexed areas around the Pacific Highway in the 1990s and inherited the drug dealing and prostitution problems that came with the area, Murphy said.

SOURCE:

• Seattle P-I