City Center Plaza construction reaches the top

Teya Vitu//September 22, 2015//

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Rafael Reyes is installing the final steel beam at the Clearwater Building at City Center Plaza. It was signed by all attending the topping off ceremony. Photo by Celia Southcombe.

Four months of heavy lifting wrapped up Sept. 22 at the nine-story Clearwater Building that is taking shape at City Center Plaza in downtown Boise.

Tall building construction projects typically have a “topping off” ceremony with dignitaries when work reaches its highest level. Such was the case Sept. 22 as Mayor David Bieter led a contingent including leaders from the building’s future tenants: Clearwater Analytics, the Computer Science Department at Boise State University, the Boise Centre and Valley Regional Transit.

Since early May, ESI Construction has assembled 3,000 tons of structural steel from street level to the ninth story to create a heavy-duty commercial building, said David Bowar, ESI’s senior project manager.

Work on the Main Street site next to the U.S. Bank Tower started in August 2014, first to dig a 30-foot hole, the to install concrete-and-rebar footings to stabilize the walls. The foundation came after that.

The Clearwater Building isn’t especially tall, but the project required a 310-foot crane because the construction zone comes within 17 feet of the U.S. Bank Tower and within eight inches of the CenturyLink Arena. It covers one lane of Main Street.

Now that the last structural beam is in place, work at the Clearwater Building shifts into enclosing the structure. This started in early August with framing, sheathing and a rain screen system, Bowar said.

Half of the structural steel is in place for the Boise Centre expansion at City Center Plaza. Photo by Teya Vitu.

Through the end of the year, a combination of metal panels, stone and glass will become the building’s skin.

“This helps us get it dried in,” Bowar said about closing the building off from the elements.

The $76 million City Center Plaza project also includes the Boise Centre expansion, where construction is going on between the CenturyLink Arena and U.S. Bank Tower.

Foundation work for the five-story convention center space started in June, with the structural steel going vertical at the start of August. About half the structural steel is in place and Bowar expects to top off the Boise Centre building in December.

Completion for both building is expected in fall 2016.