New Operations, Maintenance & Administrative Building

After reviewing multiple PWSD-owned sites, the Rueter-Hess location was selected due to its centralized location within the district and, specifically, its proximity to the Rueter-Hess Reservoir and Water Purification Facility. Additionally, the location is also large enough to allow all departments and staff to come together in one space, meets PWSD’s projected 20-year growth needs, and allows for future expansion if needed.

As part of the project, the two-story, 102,000 sf building will co-locate a total of 180 administrative, operations, and maintenance professionals across two curved (segmented) levels. The new sustainable space will be built to house maintenance bays, an open-plan workplace, and a high-performance water quality laboratory.

The design was inspired by a drop of water’s concentric rings of outward momentum and the ceremonial circles used by Native American tribes who once lived in the area. The shape also fits the site's topography better, allowing for reduced excavation costs.

The project is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete. We broke ground on the project in Spring 2022 and anticipate the building will be completed in Fall 2023.

The construction budget for this project is $53 million. While all projects completed by PWSD have an impact on rates, the costs for this project were part of the District’s long-term capital plan and therefore included in our long-term rate plans along with many other necessary projects and costs.

The most direct impacts will be felt by neighbors in the Heirloom neighborhood. We will share information as it becomes available, but generally speaking, we anticipate increased traffic through the neighborhood, particularly on weekdays, and there will be construction noise and vehicles present throughout the day.

PWSD is implementing the following to help mitigate community impacts:

• PWSD vehicles and contractors are instructed to use the Hess Road entrance to the site rather than neighborhood streets whenever possible. &
• Construction will not begin before 7 am except in certain instances, in which case we will request a variance from Douglas County.  
• In an effort to limit nighttime impacts, we will be taking a “dark skies” approach to the building. This means avoiding the use of uplighting and limiting downlighting to minimum required levels.  
• The new building will have indoor parking for a number of our fleet vehicles, which means neighbors will not have to view the majority of vehicles after hours. This also means we can reduce the need to provide security lighting in the parking lot.  
• The building has been designed to seamlessly integrate into the natural grading of the hillside, rather than on top of it, in an effort to minimize disruption to neighborhood views and sightlines.