The Plaza is Ashland’s living room where locals and tourists alike gather and cross paths.  To that end, the redesign created more gathering space and seating than the prior layout and allows better flow to the pedestrian walkways in and out of the Plaza space.  The historic Lithia Water fountain continues to bubble along surprising and delighting visitors just as it has for decades. Seating space was significantly expanded and the functional benches also provided the backdrop for the ceramic mosaic art by Susan Springer.  http://suespringerart.com/2013/04/04/ashland-plaza-mosaic-project/.  Springer was quoted by the Medford Mail Tribune as saying, “the artwork speaks to the flow of the creek, movement of people and passing of time.”  MMT December 11, 2012.  Wooden benches also stand out from the hardscape surfaces and were provided by Forms + Surfaces of Pittsburg, PA (www.forms-surfaces.com).  The new construction did allow for the placement of a time capsule at the end of the Plaza nearest Lithia Park and Ausland expects to be there for the opening in 2113, one hundred years from the dedication of the new Ashland Plaza.

State of the art Ashland Fire Station #2

Ashland Fire Station 2 – Brass and beams.

Ashland’s new fire station is a mix of classic fire station elements and cutting edge upgrades. At the corner of Sherwood Street and Ashland Street, across from the cemetery, the shiny glass roll-up doors frame the bright red fire engines just like in the classic dreams of kids everywhere. But just off of the fire engine bays are the high tech standards of today’s fire station -

a decontamination room, a secure room for medicine storage and high tech HVAC systems to exhaust vehicle fumes as well as heat the engine bays.

The architecture is functional and impressive, fitting of the public service that is fire fighting. Huge beams of laminated Fir dominate the vertical and horizontal lines of the new building and concrete forms were used to create a rugged visual statement to the street side face.

While fire stations have traditionally been a community hub, rarely has one be the home of public art, but in Ashland is a thriving arts community! The sculpture, “Open Minded” by CJ Rench is placed at the prominent front entrance to the new station.

The grand opening of the station and art installation was Feb 14, 2013 but you can admire the architecture, engine bays and public art from Ashland Street anytime. There is, of course, a brass fire pole that lets firemen and women launch from their quarters on the second floor to the engine bay. The brass pole, 21 feet high and specially ordered from Brass Finders http://www.brassfinders.com and JW Hurd Fabrications. What you might not know about today’s fire pole is that the landing base is designed to cushion the feet of the firemen and women as they rush into service with a 2” high density foam pad.

It was Ausland’s pleasure to serve Ashland by building this new facility.

TIMOTHY BULLARD/Daily Courier - Expansion is underway at Southgate Cinema. The addition will add five theaters, extend runs for popular movies and allow screenings for independent art films.

By Jeff Duewel of the Daily Courier.  www.thedailycourier.com

The walls are already going up on a 9,000-foot expansion at Southgate Cinema, the lone movie complex in Grants Pass.

Ausland Group is the contractor for the $1.5 million project, which includes five new theaters, and should be done in early April, said Ausland President Kelsy Ausland.

“We’re fast-tracking this project in order to have the new theaters in full operation in April,” she said. “It is exciting to be a part of creating the stage where so much movie magic is experienced by our community.”

The theater, owned by Ashland-based Coming Attractions Theaters, will be in full operation during the expansion. The addition is being done on the east side of the building — the back side as you enter the ticket booth.

Southgate, built 15 years ago, has eight theaters, one of which will be converted to a party room and game room, so the final count will be 12 theaters after expansion.

Last week Ausland completed the foundation concrete work, and more 24-foot walls are going up this week. The work is coordinated so that construction noise doesn’t detract from the movie experience, Ausland said.

Movies 6 in the Grants Pass Shopping Center closed in 2010, ending over 30 years of a movie theater in that location.

Southgate opened with four theaters in the summer of 1997 at 1625 Ringuette St. in south Grants Pass, and expanded to eight screens in 2005.

Southgate’s 2005 expansion increased it from 745 seats to 1,135 seats, and square footage from 9,714 to 13,932. After the current project is completed, it will have more than 20,000 square feet.

Ausland Group offers complete capital improvement expertise in development consulting, engineering, and construction.   For more information, visit us at http://auslandgroup.com/

Model of Rendata Industrial Park, a designated “Decision Ready” site in Merlin. Photo courtesy of Ausland Group.

By Maya Moore, journalist, for Oregon Legal Journal.  www.oregonlegaljournal.com

In Southern Oregon, Kelsy Ausland, P.E., president of Medford development firm Ausland Group, sees a small uptick in private projects. Even if it’s just a 70-stall parking lot outside a corporate office, it’s still a sign that business and employment is picking up.

“Two years ago, people weren’t investing in those kinds of projects,” she says. “Now they’re starting to.” But the Coast and most of the rural areas in the state “are really hurting for construction work,” says Mohlis.

One exception: data centers. Technology companies from Apple to Yahoo have been building data centers in Central Oregon and the Columbia Gorge in recent years. The latest: a 62,000-square-foot addition to one of Facebook’s two 332,000-square-foot Prineville data centers. Those projects employed roughly 250 construction workers every day they were being built. The social-media giant also has land for a third building as large as the first two should demand require it, says company spokesman Lee Weinstein.

Education, medical

Other education projects, from the $6 million seismic retrofit of SOU’s Churchill Hall by Ausland Group to a $10 million renovation of the University of Portland’s library by Todd Construction of Tigard, have kept builders busy as well. Similarly, local bond measures have led to K-12 building projects for some firms, including Todd, which will build Portland’s $37 million Parkrose Middle School in the coming year. And Oregon State University’s plans to expand its Cascades campus in Bend into a four-year university by 2015 likely will require some new construction or renovation just down the road.

Yet the bright education spot may be dimming. For starters, the Legislature only approved $265 million in capital construction funds for the 2011-13 biennium, down from $758 million in 2009-11. Along the same lines, earlier bond measures for schools, fire stations and other public projects are winding down.

“I think we’re seeing the tail end of what was passed when the economy was still pretty good,” says Ausland. “We may be cycling out of those institutional projects.”

Like education projects, health care construction has been strong over the past few years. Smaller clinics as well as large hospitals — such as the $9.3 million Curry Medical Center in Brookings and Kaiser Permanente’s under-construction, $344 million Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro —have kept crews working steadily. The state, too, is building two new hospitals to the tune of $458 million to replace the existing Oregon State Hospital.

But all this could be tapering off.

“There may be more of that that’s in the rearview mirror,” says Eberwein. “Most of the big guys did a lot of the big projects, and now they’re catching their breath. Generally speaking, even though it never really goes away, health care is taking a breath.”

Part of that has to do with the slower economy, but part may also be the uncertainty related to health care reform.

“In health care,” says Brent Schafer, president of Todd Construction, which built the hospital in Brookings, “it seems like people are being kind of cautious about the election and health care reform, and waiting to see how all that is going to shake out.”

Resorts, hospitality

Elsewhere, other builders have seen some healthy returns in other areas of hospitality.

“We’re doing a number of new hotels and renovations for different developers,” says SERA’s Schultz. “Slowly and quietly, we’ve seen a comeback in hospitality” in Portland and elsewhere around the state.

Ausland Group is currently renovating two Holiday Inns in Grants Pass and Roseburg, and similar to R&H, which completed an expansion for Deschutes Brewery in Bend, the firm just finished up a 28,000-square-foot brewery for Ashland’s Caldera Brewing.

“For a brewery to be expanding like that,” says Ausland, “we think that’s a good sign of what’s to come in the economy.”

Jon Bell is a Portland-based journalist who writes frequently for OB. He can be reached at editor@oregonbusiness.com.

 By John Foyston, Special to The Oregonian 

Jim Mills and Caldera brewing are building a new  25,000 square foot brewery just a block away from the original Caldera brewery on the southeast side of the last Ashland exit from I-5, at 590 Clover Lane. The complex is huge, and plans call for an opening this November.

It includes a four-vessel, 30-barrel brewhouse from JV Northwest, ranks of fermenters including some 60- and 90-barrel tanks, a distillery in future plans, a kitchen, a 65-foot x 40-foot  pub, bottling and canning lines and coolers for hop storage, cans bottles and kegs and a lagering cooler with 90 barrels of capacity. Grain silos? Three, each for a different malt.

The tasting room/pub will feature house made sodas, a draft chardonnay and 27 beer taps and seats about 90.

There’s also a patio that’s heated in the winter and seats about 40. No word yet on the cost of the project, but the scope is inspiring. The way-popular Caldera Taproom downtown by the creek will remain open, which is good news I’m sure to locals — and to me: I love the place, an the current 10-barel production brewhouse moves to the new digs, where it’ll be used for specialty and seasonal beers.

Ausland Group offers complete capital improvement expertise in development consulting, engineering, and construction.   For more information, visit us at http://auslandgroup.com/

 

30-barrel brewhouse.

Caldera Brewery's new tasting room.

 

Caldera's tap - able to accommodate 31 different varieties!

 

Caldera Brewery owner, J.P. Mills says, "cheers!"

 

In high spirits

Caldera Brewing Co. hopes to open its new, 28,000-square-foot brewery on Clover Lane in Ashland by Oct. 1. The new larger space will house a new brew house, restuarant, tasting room and distillery. “This place is going to be the real deal,” said owner Jim Mills.

Expansion nears completion at local brewery, which will include a larger brew house, restaurant, tasting room and new distillery.  By Sam Wheeler, Ashland Daily Tidings, August 30, 2012

Caldera Brewing Co. is putting the finishing touches on a new, expanded brew house and soon-to-be restaurant, tasting room and distillery, owner Jim Mills said.

By Oct. 1, the company plans to move all of its brewing equipment into the 28,000-square-foot building, which sits a few hundred yards up Clover Lane from its current brew house, and hopes to open a 134-seat restaurant and other amenities a month later, he said.

“I’m more excited to get the brew house going,” Mills said, perched on top of a ladder wedging putty around an air vent in the new building while busy construction crews worked in every room. “It’s starting to look good in here.”

Caldera, a homegrown Ashland business launched in 1996, operates out of a 6,000-square-foot brewery on Clover Lane and the Caldera Tap House on Water Street in downtown Ashland.

About 10 people work at the brewery with another 10 working at the tap house, and Mills hopes the expansion will add another 15 to 18 employees to Caldera’s staff, he said.

Mills said he plans to branch out from beer into distilled spirits and nonalcoholic soda and tea once the company settles in at its new location.

“I’ve been wanting to distill for a while now, we just don’t have any room where we are at now,” Mills said. “We’ll distill scotch, vodka, bourbon, gin … I brew this hibiscus and rose petal iced tea that’s pretty good; we’ll also make that.”

As for soda, Mills said, Caldera likely will start with ginger ale and root beer.

With 92 seats inside and 42 outside, the restaurant will be one of Ashland’s largest, Mills said. And it could expand.

“We’re really going to step it up a notch from what we offer at the tap house, but we’re still going to keep it affordable,” Mills said.

He said some of the burgers from the tap house will make it on the restaurant’s menu and will be joined by a variety of entrées, including pasta and hand-made pizzas.

Although Mills plans to open the restaurant and tasting room by Nov. 1, he said, it’s possible that date could be pushed back up to a month.

The award-winning brewery likely won’t begin distilling spirits until next year, Mills said.

Medford-based contractor Ausland Group broke ground on the project in October 2011, after the Ashland City Council unanimously approved an annexation and zoning change for three lots on 3.72 acres on Clover Lane.

City councilors said they supported Caldera’s expansion because it would provide jobs and contribute to economic growth in Ashland.

Ron Fox, executive director of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc., praised Caldera’s growth, comparing its success to some of the region’s most popular wineries.

“This will allow them to push their products further outside of their current market area,” Fox said. “Their product has the kinds of characteristics that should attract consumers from all over the United States … there is also potential for international marketing opportunities.”

Caldera serves the Eugene, Portland and Southern Oregon markets, its website says.

Caldera’s brew house is supported by a 10-barrel system, not including fermentation tanks. Its new facility will house a 40-barrel system until 10 of those barrels are set aside for distilling, Mills said.

“This place is going to be the real deal,” he said.

Reach reporter Sam Wheeler at 541-499-1470 or email swheeler@dailytidings.com.

Ausland Group offers complete capital improvement expertise in development consulting, engineering, and construction.   For more information, visit us at http://auslandgroup.com/

Timely turnaround

The renovation of Southern Oregon University’s first building, 86-year-old Churchill Hall, is running about two months ahead of schedule and staff should begin funneling back into its top floor by the first week of September, the project’s contractor said.

Workers have gutted the building down to its frame, reinforced it with a network of steel columns and girts, added foundation support and are currently finishing remodeling its interior, said Aaron Ausland, CEO of engineering and construction firm Ausland Group, who’s been working on the project since October.

“We pretty much built an entire new structural skeleton inside the old building,” he said. “Being a seismic renovation and an architectural renovation, it’s been a very complex project, but our team has been very proactive identifying potential problems before they occur.”

With new flooring, walls, electrical wiring, lighting, and windows, the building will be more energy-efficient, and its sturdy new frame makes it less susceptible to earthquake damage, Ausland said.

The entire project is expected to cost about $6.4 million, with direct construction costs totaling about $4.9 million, said Drew Gilliland, SOU director of facilities, management and planning.

“I think we’ve done a great job on the job on the project. It’s been a win-win for both of us,” Gilliland said. “And, we’re always glad to keep the work in the valley with our contractors.”

Oregon Health & Science University will have all of its faculty at SOU consolidated in Churchill’s top story, and will be first to move back into the building. If things go smoothly, crews could have the project wrapped up in October, Ausland said, allowing President Mary Cullinan and other administrators to move back in, as well as a handful of SOU’s staff who will work from offices on the top floor.

“The goal right now is to get OHSU moved it,” Gilliland said. “We have a few offices and classrooms up there that our staff will use, but I don’t think they will be finished with the work until the end of September.”

Initially, SOU established a timeline for the project to be completed by December 2012.

The Oregon University System, through its deferred maintenance program, contributed $1.3 million to cover the seismic retrofitting, and OHSU, which operates a nursing program at the SOU campus, contributed $500,000.

Another $2.7 million for the project comes from state energy loans and $1.8 million from lottery bonds. Although SOU will not have to pay back the lottery bonds, it will be required to pay back the energy loans.

The faculty members in SOU’s foreign language program, who once worked out of Churchill’s top story, will eventually move to the second floor of Central Hall, which is where most of the OHSU staff and faculty currently work from. The foreign language program is working out of a manufactured home near Central Hall.

Except for the building’s clearer glass windows, the renovation effort is virtually unnoticeable from outside Churchill.

“On the outside you’d never know what was going on in there, but we’ve been hard at work “… it looks spectacular,” Ausland said.

Reach reporter Sam Wheeler at 541-499-1470 or email swheeler@dailytidings.com.

Ausland Group offers complete capital improvement expertise in development consulting, engineering, and construction.   For more information, visit us at http://auslandgroup.com/

Since 2011 Ausland Group has worked with Britt Festivals leadership to design improvements focused on improving the experience for concert goers, and provided technical support for grant writing.   The Britt Performance Garden, a unique concert venue, will create an intimate setting for approximately 150 people and capture the natural splendor of Britt.

The New Garden will be nestled into the hillside near the main gates, and offer an area for smaller, more intimate concerts, and other special events.  New performances, additional seating – a new Britt Experience!

You can be a part of this exciting new venue by purchasing a personalized brick which will become the Britt Performance Garden’s new pathway.   Bricks will be available for purchase at the Hill.

Construction is anticipated to begin in Fall 2012.  For more updates, visit the project page at: www.auslandgroup.com/britt

Ausland Group offers complete capital improvement expertise in development consulting, engineering, and construction.   For more information, visit us at http://auslandgroup.com/