Faber Construction completing hotel, travel center projects

A brief pause due to the coronavirus pandemic didn’t slow down Faber Construction much. The Lynden company is completing work this summer on two major commercial projects in Northwest Washington.

Faber Construction just finished work on the five-story, 117-room La Quinta hotel in Marysville for a private developer, which opened on July 21. The 64,000-square-foot project, located at 11430 38th Drive N.E., includes a swimming pool and exercise gym. The interior décor features photos and wall murals that highlight life and scenery in the Marysville area.

In August, Faber Construction will also wrap up work on the Salish Village Travel Center for Lummi Commercial Co., the business entity of Lummi Nation. The travel center is located at 4839 Rural Ave., Ferndale, just west of the Interstate 5/Slater Road interchange.

It includes eight double-sided fueling stations serving cars and commercial trucks and 10,600 square feet of building for a convenience store, namely the Lummi Bay Market at Exit 260. The building features a unique, modern design that emphasizes the use of timber and long wooden beams.

“The Salish Village Travel Center and La Quinta hotel exemplify how much Faber Construction has evolved since being founded in 1987,” said Rick Faber, company president. “We’re honored to have worked on both of them.”

With success constructing and managing commercial, civil and industrial projects, plus education institutions, apartments, restaurants and tenant improvements, Faber Construction has become a fully integrated company. For more information, call Faber Construction at (360) 354-3500 or visit www.faberconstruction.com.

New Appel Farms cheese production and cold storage facility

Appel Farms positions for growth with new cheese production facility

Ferndale-based Appel Farms moves its cheese operations in December to a new 12,800-square-foot production and cold-storage facility, positioning it for future growth while increasing the farm’s efficiency and food security.

“We can grow a tremendous amount without running out of room,” said John Appel, who runs the cheese production operations while his wife Ruth directs retail and marketing functions.

Faber Construction of Lynden built the unique pre-engineered steel building, located at 6605 Northwest Drive. It incorporates an exo-skeleton technique, placing steel columns on the outside, while utilizing insulated metal panels for exterior walls, coolers and the freezer. This created an uninterrupted interior wall around the perimeter, increasing efficient use of the space, according to Rick Faber, president of Faber Construction.

The building also has to be capable of reaching a wide range of temperatures. Some blast freezers can get below 0 degrees while in dairy production coolers are expected to get as low as 37 and incubators as high as 108 degrees.

“The Appel Farms Cheese Plant is a one-of-a-kind facility in the Northwest Washington dairy industry,” Faber said.

Appel Farms started cheese production 30 years ago in an 800-square-foot building on the farm founded by John’s late father Jack Appel and his mother Audrey. They added on to it and utilized adjacent buildings to accommodate growth until the family was convinced a new building was necessary.

Cheese production currently uses more than half the milk from the farm’s 600-cow dairy herd, which is run by John’s brother Rich Appel. Appel Farms in mid-2016 began producing havarti, parmesan and maasdammer cheeses, adding to a product line that already included gouda, cheddar, quark, feta and paneer. The new building includes a window for viewing gouda production, although interested visitors should call ahead for times.

John Appel said steady growth has resulted in this expansion, but the family wasn’t taking all of the credit. “God has blessed us even despite some of our decisions,” he said.

The Cheese Shop, the retail arm of Appel Farms, is adjacent to the new production facility and open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturdays. For more information, call the store at (360) 312-1431 or visit www.appel-farms.com.

With success constructing and managing commercial, civil and industrial projects, plus education institutions, apartments, restaurants and tenant improvements, Faber Construction has become a fully integrated company with 85 employees and the versatility to handle projects ranging from $25,000 to $15 million. For more information, call Faber Construction at (866) 354-3501 or visit www.FaberConstruction.com.

> Check out the Bellingham Herald’s article and photos of the new creamery

Lopez Island School Campus Improvements - Rendering

Four major school projects started by Faber Construction

The end of school for students means the start of site work on four major school projects in Western Washington. These projects total nearly $17 million for Faber Construction.

Providing Western Washington with quality commercial buildings and site work since 1987, Lynden-based Faber Construction recently began building the following projects:

Lopez Island School Campus

Extensive renovations, repairs and small additions to the 58,500-square-foot Lopez Island School Campus just began. The school houses K-12 classrooms for the Lopez Island School District. The $7.6 million project will replace and refurbish building safety, electrical, heating, plumbing and septic systems and upgrade energy efficiency. The school’s technology infrastructure and classrooms, common areas, and building exteriors will also be updated. Projected completion date is August 2017.

Aldercrest Campus

The modernization of the Aldercrest Campus is a $3.4 million project that will allow the Shoreline School District to reopen the elementary school in September.

Discovery Elementary School

The Discovery Elementary School Addition is a $3 million project. It includes demolishing an existing play shed, and adding a new gymnasium and play shed for the Mukilteo School District. An expanded prep kitchen with service counter will be added to the existing multipurpose room. Electrical, communication, mechanical and fire systems will be brought up to code as well.

Bellevue College B RISE Learning Institute and Physics Lab

This project is a renovation of Bellevue College’s B RISE Learning Institute and Physics Lab. This $2.9 million project also includes the addition of 1,500 square feet.

With success constructing and managing commercial, civil and industrial projects, plus education institutions, apartments, restaurants and tenant improvements, Faber Construction has become a fully integrated company with 85 employees and the versatility to handle projects ranging from $25,000 to $15 million.

Parkview Elementary Walls Coming Down

A quick video of the wall coming down at Parkview Elementary School in Bellingham, making room for the new addition.

Ferndale Library Opening Oct 29!

Whatcom County Library System’s newest library is set to open October 29! Here’s a quick sneak peek of the new building from the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce. Save November 15 on your calendars for the Grand Opening, starting at 10am. We can’t wait to show off this beautiful library and hope you love it as […]

Whatcom Creek Bridge Replacement

Our latest civil project, and our first bridge – Whatcom Creek Bridge. We had fun bolting the 38,000-pound bridge together with the help of Sicklesteel Cranes and placing it over the creek. The steel bridge is 110 feet long and 10 feet wide with fiberglass slats to walk upon.

If bridges fascinate you read this article from The Bellingham Herald about it, and watch the video to the left!

More info about the project here.

Northwest Indian College Grand Opening

On March 21st, the Northwest Indian College celebrated the grand opening of their new Faber-built library building. Students, faculty, administrators and staff were as excited as we were with the beautiful metal and wood clad building. This library has the capacity to hold over 30,000 books and will be home to the Vine Deloria Jr. Collection. It has a combination of public study areas, classrooms, offices, spaces for children and teens, and a computer lab and media center. It also features a special collections room for holding rare or one-of-a-kind documents, maps, books and artifacts especially relevant to Coast Salish tribes.

Work Progressing on Ferndale Library

Construction is steadily progressing at the new library.

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Ferndale Public Library Builders

Construction is already underway for the new public library in Ferndale. This building has been designed by SHKS Architectsand is situated right on main street. The library will feature a glulam skeleton frame with 8″ structurally insulated panel walls. Why does Ferndale need a new library? The Whatcom Country Library System is currently operating out of a temporary facility and needs more space as well as room for community meetings. Find out more details here.