Campus Center is the heart of Bellingham Technical College. It holds the library, student life, event spaces, and food services for a campus that trains much of Whatcom County's skilled workforce. When truss reinforcement work in the summer of 2023 revealed deeper structural concerns, BTC closed the building and brought in Dawson as the emergency contractor to begin gravity load repairs, the work that keeps a building safely carrying its own weight.
In spring 2024, BTC and the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services concluded a competitive GC/CM procurement, and Dawson was selected to deliver the remainder of the project. The team included Zervas Architects and Coffman Engineers, with the work divided into two stages: gravity load repairs to secure the existing structure, followed by seismic strengthening of the roof, foundation, and structural steel to bring the building into compliance with current code.
Dawson ran the seismic stage through preconstruction services, packaging scopes of work for competitive sub-bids while crews protected finished interiors with chipboard and screening so heavy structural work could happen inside a building the college intended to fully reoccupy. Throughout the closure, classes and services relocated across campus, and the project team coordinated closely with BTC so students stayed on schedule while the building was rebuilt around them. The renovated Campus Center returns to service for Winter Quarter 2026.
BTC brought Dawson in for an emergency repair, then chose us again through a competitive state procurement to finish the job. Two selections by the same client on the same building is the kind of trust we work to earn.
Disciplined buyout and schedule performance returned savings to BTC, funding added scope beyond the original contract, including new rain canopies for the building.
Gravity load repairs secured the building's ability to carry its own weight, then seismic strengthening of the roof, foundation, and structural steel brought the structure into compliance with current building code.
Dawson began as the emergency contractor for gravity load repairs and was then selected as GC/CM for the full seismic retrofit through a competitive procurement led by BTC and the WA State Department of Enterprise Services.
Repair and strengthening kept BTC's library, student life, event, and food service spaces in their existing home rather than replacing the building.
From emergency repairs to ground-up builds, Dawson teams deliver across Southeast Alaska and Northwest Washington.
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