On Monday, Alaska USA opened bids and awarded the construction contract to Criterion General Inc. of Anchorage, said Nancy Bear Usera, senior vice-president of corporate development in Anchorage.
Dave Collette-Paule, vice president of Criterion, said they will start construction in early July and finish by November.
"We're looking forward to spending the summer in Homer," he said.
"Once they get started," Usera said, "it goes pretty fast."
Site work on the land just east of the chamber across from Greatland Street started last fall, but flooding delayed excavation, and the work wasn't completed until this spring.
Collette-Paule said the firm is still reviewing bids for sub-contractors for excavation, mechanical, electrical and other work. He said that all the work will go to Kenai Peninsula companies. Homer-area sub-contractors had a chance to bid.
"Homer is well-represented," Collette-Paule said. "We're sensitive to the fact that we're not local, and want the local community to have every opportunity [to bid]."
Criterion has worked with Alaska USA before, Collette-Paule said, building branches in Wasilla, Soldotna, Eagle River and at Eielson Air Force Base, as well as retail branches in Fred Meyer and Carrs stores statewide.
Gordon Thompson of Cole & Thompson Architects, Anchorage, is the lead architect for the 6,250-square foot building, which also includes an Alaska USA Mortgage Company office. The design makes extensive use of natural materials.
"We're trying to keep it in tune with the local environment," said Usera, constructing "a building that fits in with the surroundings."
The side facing the road has a front overhang using cedar posts and trusses, with a low stone wall on the building perimeter and the pier bases. Thompson said the building will be covered with double-side cedar siding. Log columns inside will support Glu-Lam structural wood beams. On the south side of the building, windows for the lending department present a view of Bishop's Beach and Kachemak Bay. Thompson did the engineering for the landscaping, and said the perimeter will be well-landscaped, with shrubs and trees such chokecherry, maple and crab apple trees.
The work of Thompson and his partner, Dave Cole, may be familiar to Homer. In business since 1975, they designed the Homer District Courthouse, the Lakeside Mall, the Homer Public Library, some of the senior housing and the addition to the Pratt Museum.
While Alaska USA does not release exact membership numbers by area, Usera said enough of the credit union's more than 200,000 members live on the lower peninsula to justify opening a branch in Homer. Lower peninsula members previously have been served through the Soldotna and Kenai branches.
"Alaska USA has been looking to open a branch and a mortgage lending office in Homer for several years," said Bill Eckhardt, president, in a press release last fall. "The parcel of land is perfectly located, and we were pleased when it became available. The new offices will be very convenient for those living, working or traveling in the Homer area."
Usera added that corporate and board members have a personal interest in the area, with some owning property on the Kenai or in Homer.
"We're extremely fond of Homer," she said. "It's a community near and dear to our hearts."
The not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperative has 29 branches in Alaska and seven in the Pacific Northwest, with over $2 billion in assets. Since it was founded, Alaska USA has granted more than 1.5 million loans totaling over $7.5 billion. Anyone living or working on the Kenai is eligible for membership in Alaska USA.
Alaska USA Mortgage Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the credit union, with offices in Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla, Kenai and Soldotna.
A grand opening is scheduled for a Homer Chamber of Commerce mixer in January 2004.
We encourage you to add your comments. To prevent spam, comments with links are manually approved during the normal business day. Please be respectful of others with your comments, bear in mind anyone in the community may be reading your comments.
