Spokane-based Graham Construction & Management Inc. has been awarded two construction projects—one in Prosser, Wash., for Washington State University and another at Spokane International Airport—with a combined value of $5.3 million, says Brian Holecek, Graham’s operations manager.

The $3.8 million project for WSU will involve upgrades and additions to two recently constructed buildings in the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center campus. The $1.5 million airport project here will involve construction of a new touchless car wash designed for free use by airport garage parking customers, Holecek says. 

In Prosser, where Graham already has begun work, one of the buildings that it will be enlarging is the Agricultural Technology Building, which is located at 24105 N. Bunn Road and houses the Center for Precision Automated Ag Systems. 

A planned addition to that will include offices, a conference/teaching center, a machine shop, a testing and setup lab, a fabrication shop and storage.

The other building, a multipurpose structure, will be used for viticulture and fruit quality research, and the planned addition to it will include plant, pesticide, and microscopy labs, a data server room, a conference room, and storage. 

The two 13,500-square-foot buildings will be extended, adding about 4,000 square feet to each of the structure. 

Construction on the project started on June 1 and involves a total of eight employees from Graham Construction, as well as various subcontractors.             

The Spokane Airport project consists of the construction of a 1,280-square-foot, single-bay car wash facility that will be located west of the main airport terminal building, as well as improvements to the adjacent airport exit canopy. 

ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, is the architect for the project.

The car wash exterior will be constructed of aluminum composite material and concrete masonry. The touchless design meaning it relies on solely high-powered jets of water and detergents to wash vehicles. Water used in the car wash will be recycled, says Todd Woodard, airport spokesman.

“The car wash is complimentary for customers who park in either of the two parking structures or the outside lot,” Woodard says. 

Woodard says there is controlled access to enter the garages and the outside lot.  Customers must pull a parking stub to enter either parking facility. 

Woodard adds that the improvements to the exit canopy are mostly aesthetic enhancements such as paint and wrapping the exterior with aluminum composite material to match the car wash facility. 

The targeted opening date for the new car wash is Nov. 27.