Whetstone working to get some buildings closed in before winter

“It’s a busy site…”

By Mark Reaman

The big Whetstone community housing project development is a beehive of construction activity that should have some of the 24 buildings under roof before the snow flies. The idea is to focus construction labor on indoor work all winter.

“Construction is going well. It’s a big project so there are some aspects that are a bit behind pace like the utility extension from town, but we are ahead on other aspects like the framing and foundations,” explained assistant Gunnison County manager for operations and sustainability John Cattles. “Overall, the critical path of the project is on pace. Critical path are those activities that have second- and third-degree impacts on other activities and can cause compounding delays if something on the critical path were to fall behind schedule. We have confidence that our team with Servitas and Moss are managing the project effectively and we have weekly meetings (or more) to ensure work is proceeding as planned and contingencies are in place for inevitable challenges.” 

Cattles said the water and sewer extensions from Crested Butte are “a bit behind schedule but those delays will not impact the overall schedule of the project at this time. We are planning to be complete with the river crossing in the next two weeks. The bore under the highway for the water line is underway right now (on the hill by the community school coming into Crested Butte), and hopefully they can get through this week or next. Then we will begin the process of testing and filling the water line and on-site distribution infrastructure.” 

The construction managers will be delaying the sewer tie-in and road crossing until spring, but Cattles said that won’t delay the overall project. He said on-site infrastructure work is proceeding well. “It’s a busy site with a lot of moving equipment so it takes a lot of coordination to maintain but it has been going well this summer. Everyone is working to prepare for winter,” he said.

Work on the proposed roundabout and pedestrian underpass will add to the construction scene next summer. 

The $135 million project that will provide 252 workforce rental units is on budget. It is anticipated that the first units will be ready for lease in the first quarter of 2027 and the whole project will be complete and ready for leasing by the end of 2027.