Washington State University says Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, has won a $908,000 job to furnish and install structural steel for the Paul G. Allen Center for Global Animal Health, which is under construction on Washington State University's main campus in Pullman.

To be named the steel subcontractor on the big project, Garco submitted the lowest bid in a second call for bids after the company submitted the lone bid in an original round of bids, says Jeff Lannigan, a project manager at WSU. A second round of bidding was held because the university wanted to encourage more competition, Lannigan says.

Metals Fabrication Co., of Airway Heights, and Advance Welding Inc., of Vancouver, Wash., also submitted bids in response to the second call for bids.

Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, is the general manager and construction contractor on the overall project, which is valued at $44.5 million, and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP, of Seattle, designed it.

Site work on the project started in July and is nearly complete, he says. The project is located near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital on the south side of the WSU campus.

The three-story, 23,000-square-foot structure is scheduled to be completed in mid-2012.

The project is being funded through a donation from Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen and a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bouten is acting as its own subcontractor for concrete work, which includes the cast-in-place frame and foundation, Lannigan says. Power City Electric Inc., of Spokane, is the electrical contractor, he says.