Interior construction: a monster season; from railroad construction, to housing, to a parking garage to work at Fort Greely, interior construction is doing very well this year.

• Author: Freeland, Peggy Frank
• Position: Fairbanks

At the beginning of the year, City of Fairbanks Building Official Steve Shuttleworth predicted a relatively slow construction season in comparison, at least, to the banner business year before. In 2001, Fairbanks ended up with $51 million in construction projects within city limits, including a high-profile project to be completed yet this year, a $6 million downtown parking garage being built by Kiewit Construction Co. of Anchorage. With the 2001 building season being the city's biggest in the last 20 years, Shuttleworth wondered how 2002 could even come close. But it came close enough.

"It was a monster season," he recently reported. "We think we'll finish the year out at about $45 million."

A variety of in-town building projects-from a $6.5 million police station to a $500,000 Safeway Stores fueling facility--made up the mix this year. For next year, Shuttleworth cited some projects already on the drawing board, like a $20 million eight-story addition to the Westmark Hotel, and a $4.5 million to $5 million addition to the Fairbanks Youth Facility, but he again demurred from predicting precise figures.

"We'll budget about a $40 million year, but we don't really know," Shuttleworth said. "City Council asks me every year what the next year will be like and it's kind of frustrating because of the competitiveness of the building industry. Builders don't want to tell each other what they're working on, and we never know here until a warm body comes in the door and applies for a permit."

He is, however, cautiously optimistic.

"The interest rates are still very low, so I don't see the trend in construction slowing down as long as that's the case," he said.

"Cautiously optimistic" is a catchphrase Bob Herting also likes to use. Herting, president of Eureka Builders Inc., said he had another good year, but he still keeps a careful eye on the banking industry.

"I always like to talk to the banking and real estate people," Herting said. "The residential market seems strong to me and I think it should stay that way. I'm not really positive what the future holds, but I really haven't seen any signs of it slowing down."

Herting specializes in building homes in the hills outside city limits. He said the residential market was strong in the spring. New sales slowed in the summer, which, he said, is typical in the Interior during vacation season, but picked up again in August.

"We were building like crazy. Our only problem is that we've had a labor shortage for the last three years. I've never seen a labor market this tight," Herting said.

Herting cited construction at the Fort Greely missile-defense site as a new but significant competitor for...