Ecology headquarters built in 1993 slated for $11 million repair

At 450 feet long and 45 feet tall, it's a big wall. And it's going to be expensive to replace, at $11 million of the public's money.

The entire eastern length of the Department of Ecology's headquarters in Lacey is scheduled to be torn down and replaced next year. The Legislature funded the project this spring, after the deteriorating structure was judged a potential safety hazard.

It's an unusual problem for an office that is comparatively new among state agency headquarters. Built in 1993 for $53 million, it houses 1,000 employees.

"It's tearing itself apart, basically, is the problem," said Stephen Fry, building-services manager at the agency.

Much of the problem stems from the wall's height and the stucco material. While the bottom is permanently shaded by a parking garage an arm's length away, the top is exposed to the sun. As a result, the top is constantly expanding and contracting with heat, while the bottom is not.

Fry speculated that the use of stucco might have been an aesthetic issue and a cost-saving measure. Cracks in the stucco, a concrete product, have allowed water to seep into the wall and corrode its skeleton.

"In some spots, it's really severe, the damage," said Wade Duffy, an assistant building official who inspected the wall for Lacey.

"It's a severe case of water intrusion and degradation to that wall. The wall is made of steel, and a few spots that we saw, there's rot to the seal," he said. "That's not to the point of collapse, but it's gone a long ways toward corrosion … to the point where it's not going to stop."

If the wall were to continue to erode, it could damage two fire-exit staircases and force closure of the building, Fry said.

Although stucco is not often used in the area because it is vulnerable to leaks, other factors played into the early failure of the wall, including the 6.8 magnitude Nisqually earthquake in 2001, Fry said.

It's not clear whether the contractor that built the office could have prevented the problems, he added.

"If we were to press that issue, I'm sure we would have to find some mechanism to divide up (the causes). And the engineers and architects that studied that wall said there is just no way," Fry said.

A stairwell on the west side of the building developed similar problems, but it's only a fraction of the size of the east wall and is easy to access. Replacing its stucco exterior with a metal and plastic skin last year cost $350,000.

There is 18 to 54 inches between the east side wall and the parking garage, and that added degree of difficulty in construction work drives up the cost, Fry said.

The agency plans to put the job out to bid in December and have work completed in a year. During construction, part of the parking garage will be closed.

The agency already is short on employee parking, so it plans to build a 180-stall lot on its wooded property just north of Saint Martin's University next year as part of the same project.

Building the wall out of modern materials should resolve safety concerns, Duffy said.

"It's only been fifteen years, but the way we approach things is much better," he added.