The Dirt: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories building new health, wellness center

Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories broke ground last week on a new health and wellness center in Lewiston.

The two-story health and wellness center at 2857 Juniper Dr. will replace an existing location operating in the company’s Lewiston facility.

“We’ve run out of space at the health clinic at our Lewiston facility,” Dave Whitehead, SEL’s CEO said in a statement. “The services we offer in this clinic, and the one in Pullman, are critical to the well-being of our employees, and we want to ensure that we can continue to meet the needs of the SEL team, and their families, now and in the future.”

The 15,460-square-foot center will offer physical fitness, primary care, physical therapy and mental health services.

Lewiston-based M.L. Albright and Sons Construction Inc. is the project contractor.

SEL does not have plans to hire additional staff, but a few job opportunities likely will be available when the center is complete in 2021, according to the company.

SEL has more than 600 employees working at its Lewiston operation, the company said.

Construction to begin on memory care facility

Baker Construction & Development was recently awarded a $6.4 million contract to build a multibuilding memory care facility in north Spokane.

The Spokane-based contractor anticipates breaking ground this month on The Cottages of Spokane, which includes four 4,750-square-foot cottages on two, 1-acre lots at 6904 and 6930 N. Nevada St. The cottages will house patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

The project also calls for a 2,500-square-foot administrative building with a kitchen, according to site plans filed with the city.

Spokane Special Care Community, a subsidiary of Mercer Island-based CarePartners, filed permits with the city in March to build the memory care facility.

The project is expected to be complete next summer.

Redmond, Washington-based Jensen Fey Architecture and Planning is designing the project.

CarePartners, founded in 1998, operates 11 assisted-living facilities in the state of Washington.

Maverik planning Pines Road location

Maverik Inc. is moving forward with plans to build a convenience store and gas station across the street from the Black Pearl Poker Room & Casino in Spokane Valley.

The Salt Lake City-based company recently submitted an environmental review to the Washington State Department of Ecology for the project, which includes plans to build a more than 5,600-square-foot convenience store and gas station at 2125 N. Pines Road.

Maverik filed a preliminary application with the city in December for the project.

Spokane Valley-based Pines Properties LLC is the property owner.

Maverik was founded in 1928 by Reuel Call, who used money earned from renting roller skates to open a two-pump gas station in Afton, Wyoming. The company has since expanded to more than 350 convenience stores in 11 Western states.

Former Web.com site to be converted

The former Web.com site in north-central Spokane will be transformed into an office with ambulance parking for American Medical Response Inc., according to permits filed with the city.

Maxwell Washington Partners LLC filed an application to remodel the former Web.com building into an 32,400-square foot office at 1425 N. Washington St.

Plans also include a truck-wash area, storage and covered parking spanning 7,000 square feet. The project contractor is Spokane-based Meridian Construction. The project is Spokane-based Wolfe Architectural Group.

Maxwell Washington Partners LLC purchased the property for $1.2 million in July, according to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office.

Florida-based internet services and marketing company Web.com shuttered its Spokane office last year.