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One big hunk of concrete Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Ira Christen, left, and Brian Goodrich use riding power trowels to level and smooth a concrete foundation pad for JMC Concrete. The contractor poured the concrete beginning at 1 a.m. Tuesday and finished eight hours later, covering an entire acre at the future site of West Coast Paper Company�s new operations center on Avion Drive. West Coast also will open a retail paper and packaging outlet, Paper Etc., at the site when contractor Batzer Construction finishes the project this summer. It�s the future home of West Coast Paper Company By SHARI DOWNHILL Trucks from the LTM batch plant started rolling at 1 a.m. Tuesday, transporting a steady stream of concrete to West Coast Paper Company�s construction site on Avion Drive in Medford�s airport industrial district. West Coast Paper plans to consolidate its Medford operation into the new 68,000-square-foot building by July, said company spokesman John Kruesi. The wholesale paper and packaging distributor will vacate two commercial buildings it now occupies in downtown Medford on Front and Fir streets. No plans have been made for the two buildings, which total about 34,500 square feet of warehouse space. "We�re better suited to be (situated) on the periphery of Medford," Kruesi said of West Coast Paper�s commercial activity. Under the glare of halogen lamps, about 24 workers transformed 863 cubic yards of wet concrete into a foundation pad measuring about an acre, or 44,000 square feet, said Vane Jones, Batzer Construction project superintendent. The project ranks as one of the largest concrete pads installed in the Rogue Valley. Project managers anticipated starting work at about 3 a.m., but decided to begin two hours early to have exclusive access to the concrete mixed at LTM�s nearby plant. About 96 truckloads of concrete were hauled to the construction site. JMC Concrete of Medford oversaw the project. Using a concrete pump, laser screed (a device to measure the height and level of the pour) and four motorized riding trowel machines, workers put the finishing touches on the job at around 9 a.m. Batzer will begin construction in about a week after giving the concrete time to set and cure, Jones said. West Coast Paper Company�s wholesale operation will occupy about 43,000 square feet of the building. A retail paper/packaging store, Paper Etc., will open in the front of the building and administrative offices will be housed in the remainder of the space, Kruesi said. Reach reporter Shari Downhill at 776-4463, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.