BMS Building Nears Completion

DAYTON - The north side - the side away from the highway - is where the action will be at the new Artisan Food Center at Blue Mountain Station. The HVAC units will be hum­ming back here and large trucks will come and go. Big roll-up doors will allow workers to unload raw mate­rials and load final products. A big steam boiler is tucked in between the doors.

The building is the first phase of the Port of Colum­bia's new business park, on Dayton's west edge. It is nearing completion, and four new tenants are prepar­ing to move in and begin making products in early December.

" We plan to hold a Chamber of Commerce 'Business After Hours' here on December 11," said Port Manager Jennie Dickinson. "That will be a soft opening. We'll hold a big grand open­ing in the spring."

As Dickinson led a re­porter on a tour of the new building, she pointed out the large roof overhangs on the south (front) side and both ends of the building. "The public will be able to see what's happening in each of the spaces," she said. "But they can't go into the food preparation areas," because of sanitary requirements.

Visitors will be encour­aged to wander under those roof overhangs. Signs will hang overhead identifying each business, and some businesses will even offer outside benches, or tables and chairs.

Inside the building, in­sulation had recently been installed, and workers were preparing to hang drywall. We met Maynard Davis, who is the owner of West­ern States Construction, of Spokane, who is the general contractor for the new build­ing.

A couple of workers were finishing installation of the roof the day we were there.

Dickinson led us through each of the business spaces:

Big Kahuna Hot Sauce will occupy the northeast corner of the building, with a special ventilation system installed.

Mace Mead Works and Mortal Vintners Winery will take up a large L-shaped space in the East half of the building, with and area for crushing and processing grapes in the rear, and space for aging wine and mead in the front. This space has a special trench drain installed that is necessary for wine­making, Dickinson said.

A third space in the mid­dle of the building is still available for lease. Dickin­son says a cheese maker had originally committed to the space, but then backed out. "It's actually good for us to have one space to be able to show, as we complete the building," she said.

Also in the middle of the building is a large public space. "This will be the retail area where the public can buy products that are made in the Food Center," Dick- inson said. The Port is still working on a plan for keep- ing that public space open.

To the west of the re- tail space is a commercial kitchen that will be available for use by all of the tenants, as well as by members of the community. "Community members and tenants will be able to sign up for blocks of time to rent the kitchen," Dickinson said.

Gypsy Girl Granola and cheese and yogurt maker Little Dipper Dairy will each reside in the west end of the building. Gypsy Girl owner Suzi Tasker requested an opening window in the front of the building. "Even though she can't have people in her space, Suzi wants to be able to interact with the public," Dickenson said.

A special vestibule was installed in the entrance to Grass Roots Goats' space, because of sanitary requirements for cheese making.

As we left, Dickinson pointed out the native land- scaping that has been planted in front of the building, and then explained her plans for continued marketing of Blue Mountain Station.

"We don't know if we'll build another building like this one or not," she said. "We're hoping to find ten- ants who will build their own facilities. We've got plenty of land to accomodate businesses of all sizes and shapes."

Once the Artisan Food Center is completed and the back side is busy with raw materials and finished goods coming and going, Dickinson believes other businesses will see the value of locating at Blue Mountain Station. "The first building was the hardest," she said. "Now we're off and running."