Gig Harbor consultant will lead PenMet rec center project temporarily

The Absher Construction Company of Puyallup has been hired as interim project manager for PenMet Parks’ proposed Community Recreation Center, the district has announced.

Ally Bujacich, a Gig Harbor construction consultant who works for Absher, will be the interim project manager.

Bujacich steps in on a short-term contract to replace Glenn Akramoff, who resigned in September.

“Ally Bujacich has an impressive resume and has done a lot of very complicated projects with great success,” said Doug Nelson, the district’s executive director.

Bucajich is the former owner and principal of Planwise Management in Gig Harbor. She is also the former community development director for the nonprofit Gig Harbor BoatShop.

According to her resume, she founded her construction management business after eight years as director of capital development at the University of Puget Sound, where she was responsible for capital planning, design and construction on the Tacoma campus.

Bujacich has a degree from Central Washington University with a minor in Construction Management and Business Administration.

Nelson said Absher will be on a 90-day contract to manage the initial stages of planning for the $26 million recreation center, the Peninsula Metropolitan Parks District’s largest capital project ever.

Bucajich’s principal task, he said, will be helping to design the delivery method — whether traditional design-bid-build or the more complex general contractor/ construction manager system, (GCCM) in which architect and contractor work in tandem.

She will be paid about $25,000 for a three-month period, Nelson said.

The architect for the project has been chosen. It is BLRB of Tacoma, which also designed the Gig Harbor Civic Center. Another firm, Barker Rinker Seacat Architects of Denver, will serve as a consultant for the public-input phase of the project.

Akramoff, who had been acting executive director of the district until shifting into the project manager job, resigned on Sept. 17, with a letter citing “continued interference in daily operations and a total disregard for professional recommendations” by members of the park board.

Persons familiar with the situation said Akramoff objected to the inclusion of the Denver firm, which was rated low by the district’s professional staff, but was favored by members of the park board.

The district had been proceeding with the GCCM delivery model, and a Tacoma firm, Parametrix, had been hired for its expertise in that area, but was let go by the park board in August.

To be built on the site of a former Gig Harbor golf driving range, the 190,000-square-foot recreation center is to have an indoor soccer field, a flag football field, pickleball and tennis courts, a walking track and an indoor playground.

Related story: Rift over architect led to PenMet resignation

Correction: An earlier version of this story omitted the role of Absher Construction Co. as the employer of Ally Bucajich.

This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 4:01 PM.