Eastern State Hospital, the state-run inpatient psychiatric facility at Medical Lake, has selected two contractors for three separate upgrade projects valued at a combined total of at least $1.7 million.

Meridian Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, recently was awarded a $593,000 contract for work that includes installing new flooring and making electrical improvements in the Westlake building, says Gayle Bonnett, a project manager and architect for the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services. The two-story, 107,500-square-foot structure west of the main campus houses the geropsychiatric unit, which serves severely mentally ill patients who are more than 50 years old.

Meridian Construction also is expected to start work this month on a $420,000 job to replace a mechanical dehumidification system for a therapy pool, which is inside a 9,700-square-foot building near the hospital's Eastlake building. The 1,400-square-foot sha-llow pool is used for patient exercise and therapy sessions.

Additionally, Engineered Control Systems Inc. in Spokane is scheduled to begin a third project this month to update a security system at the Eastlake building, Bonnett says. The $671,000 job in the forensic services unit involves replacing antiquated systems with current technology for the control door, intercom and paging, electronic access, closed-circuit TV, and wireless alarms. That unit houses patients who have entered the hospital through the criminal justice system.

Meridian Construction's job for the Westlake building includes replacing the flooring, working on electrical upgrades, replacing a commercial dishwasher, and improving a patient courtyard to include paving, drainage, irrigation, and fences, Bonnett says.

The therapy pool dehumidification system work involves moving equipment from inside the building to a rooftop and installing a new electrical transformer.

"The old equipment for the therapy pool wasn't functioning," Bonnett says. "It's over 30-year-old equipment."

All of the projects, including the security system updates, are expected to be completed by the end of June. Bonnett says state legislative funding is paying for the upgrades.

NAC|Architecture is the principal architect for the Westlake and Eastlake building upgrades, and Spokane-based DeNeff Deeble Barton Associates Architects & Planners did associate architect design work for the Westlake site. DeNeff Deeble Barton Associates is the designer for the therapy pool equipment upgrades.

Eastern State Hospital is one of two state-owned psychiatric hospitals for adults in Washington. The 287-bed facility serves 21 Eastern Washington counties.