Great Western Malting Co., maker and seller of beer malt to large U.S. and international customers, is preparing to make way for the Port of Vancouver’s signature rail project.
The company, a subsidiary of Australian grain handler Graincorp Malt, has asked Vancouver for a demolition permit and wants the city to sign off on environmental planning for future construction projects. The request is part of an overall effort to enable Great Western Malting to continue doing business when the port eventually retakes more than an acre of the company’s property for the $148 million West Vancouver Freight Access project.
If all goes as planned, Great Western will replace and relocate key facilities by March 31, 2013, when the port is slated to assume control of company property so it can tear down structures to make room for rail tracks.
Jay Hamacheck, director of North American business development for the company, said that from the outset the company was unwilling to lose any of the 100 workers it employs, “even temporarily,” because of the port’s plans to expand its rail capacity. He said the port has been a great partner in the process. “Our customers aren’t going to see an impact,” Hamacheck added.
Vancouver’s community development department is reviewing Great Western’s request and taking comments from the public on the company’s plans. People have until 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, to weigh in with written comments. The city will later decide whether to approve the proposal. Any appeals would go to the city’s hearings examiner for a final decision.
Great Western’s plans include:
• Demolishing two warehouse buildings and replacing them with a new 20,530-square-foot shop building. The shop building will consolidate the company’s space for maintenance, include new locker and lunch rooms, and provide extra administrative and research space.
• Constructing a new green malt plant, which is still being designed, to replace an existing green malt processing facility that will be lost when the company’s Drum House is demolished.
• Replacing a facility used to load finished malt product into rail cars.
When the company’s Drum House is removed, the structure’s historic Tap Room, which Hamachek described as a “great old meeting room,” will go away, too. But not before pieces of its history are removed and relocated. “We’re going to be pulling all of the artwork and architectural pieces for use in the new administration building,” Hamacheck said.
Making way for rail
Driving all the changes is the port’s West Vancouver Freight Access project, which will cut through the heart of Great Western’s operation. The project — to be completed in 2017 — is intended to increase the port’s rail track from 16.9 miles to more than 44 miles, adding capacity to handle freight and increasing the speed at which cargo moves along the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific main lines. In November 2009, the port’s elected three-member commission agreed to pay Great Western $32.46 million to retake more than an acre of its property for the project. Great Western has been a tenant of the port since 1934. Curtis Shuck, the port’s director of economic development and facilities, said the project with Great Western is an “ongoing challenge” but that both parties are working closely together. “If it’s not a win-win, then it doesn’t work for anyone,” he said.
