Supply chain trouble could disrupt Gig Harbor recreation center plans. Here’s why

Supply chain difficulties in the construction industry could delay construction of the Community Recreation Center in Gig Harbor, the project manager told the PenMet Parks board Tuesday.

In a worst case, Curt Gimmestad told the board, PenMet could be forced to abandon its preferred construction method — a pre-engineered metal building — and seek alternatives.

Construction on the center was originally supposed to begin this month, with completion set in late 2022, The Gateway reported in December.

Because of market conditions caused by the pandemic, “the delivery times for these particular buildings have gone from what might be a few months to many, many months — potentially up to a year,” Gimmestad told the board.

Pre-engineered metal buildings are designed and engineered off-site, then re-assembled. Think your neighbor’s prefab tool shed, on steroids. They include a steel frame, a roof and side panels, and generally can be erected in about half the time of a traditional steel-frame building, according to industry websites. Once erected, they can be clad in various materials, including brick, stone or wood.

“The pre-engineered metal building company does all the design and engineering and they ship the parts out here and we put them together like Legos,” Gimmestad explained. “This works really well for soccer enclosures,” he said, because PEMBs can span large spaces.

Lead time getting longer

The problem is, he said, “the lead time for trying to get some of this material keeps pushing out and pushing out, and the queue is getting longer and longer.”

Lead time for all construction materials was 148 days in June, the latest month for which figures were available, according to the Institute for Supply Management, cited in Supply Chain Dive, an industry publication. The institute cited a number of factors, from port congestion and transportation bottlenecks, to raw material shortages and labor constraints at the manufacturer.

The planned Community Recreation Center would be built on the 17.6-acre site of the former Performance Golf driving range at 2416 14th Ave., which the Peninsula Metropolitan Park District purchased for $4.3 million in 2019.

At 58,300 square feet, the building would contain one indoor soccer/football field, three basketball courts, a multipurpose room for exercise or gymnastics, and an elevated walking track. The basketball courts could double as nine pickleball courts, and — in one option — could be turfed over to form a second soccer field.

The building is being designed by a consortium led by BLRB of Tacoma and including Barker Rinker Seacat (BRS) of Denver, Colo.

Construction costs have been estimated at $22 million.

But those costs could rise, Gimmestad said in an interview, if materials become hard to get.

“If there are going to be long delays, at some point, you have to decide whether it’s more cost-effective to switch to some other building method,” he said.

Alternatives might include traditional steel-frame construction or tilt-up concrete, he said.

PenMet Executive Director Ally Bujacich said the district’s recreation center committee will meet in coming days to discuss the problem.

Other business

In other business, the PenMet Board:

▪ Authorized a $205,980 contract with Driftmier Architects to design improvements to the historic Arletta Schoolhouse at Hale Passage Park. The improvements are to include general interior cleaning and painting, the replacement of some flooring contaminated by asbestos, re-roofing of the pavilion and covered breezeway, and some electrical and landscaping work.

▪ Approved a “pause” in PenMet’s Park Enhancement Grant Program until 2022 to allow for reconsideration of how grants are awarded and the kinds of projects approved. The program provided $25,000 in matching grants to organizations that provided physical improvements to parks and playfields. Recent examples have been new playground equipment at Voyager Elementary School and maps and trail markers at Rotary Bark Park.

“Reviewing and elevating the PEG program is one of the adopted goals and objectives for 2022, and we are simply pausing accepting new applications until that is complete,” said PenMet Executive Director Ally Bujacich.

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.