more photosWhat: Airgas Nor Pac Bend branch
Where: 63051 Plateau Drive
Owner: JLD Group Inc., Yreka, Calif.
General contractor: JLD Group Inc.
Design: LB Engineering Inc., Bend
Contact: 541-383-4176
Details: Construction workers have erected the walls at the future Bend outlet of Airgas Nor Pac, which supplies gases for medical and welding uses, along with safety supplies, in northeast Bend.
The nearly 8,500-square foot building, which is located on the southwest corner of Plateau Drive and Empire Boulevard, will give the Bend branch about twice as much space, said Larry Mennie, branch manager. Currently, the branch is located at Northeast Twin Knolls Drive, south of U.S. Highway 20 and Northeast Purcell Boulevard.
The Bend office, which has four employees, is among more than 1,100 outlets nationwide for Airgas, which bills itself as the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases and related material, such as welding supplies. The company is headquartered in Radnor, Pa., and the Nor Pac regional office is in Vancouver, Wash., according to its website.
The Bend branch supplies oxygen to medical facilities, nursing homes and other locations, along with gases for both professional welders and hobbyists, Mennie said. Airgas also carries a variety of safety supplies, such as hard hats, safety glasses, eyewashes, masks, signs and related products.
The new office will have retail, storage and distribution space, according to city of Bend planning documents, which also list the value of the project at $547,541.
Excavation began in April, Mennie said, and Dennis Young, superintendent for general contractor JLD Group Inc., of Yreka, Calif., said the building should be finished around late November or the first of December.
— Tim Doran, The Bulletin
