Fairbanks North Star Borough statistics for building and zoning permit valuations totaled $218 million in 2004, almost double the prior year's total of $113 million and a record high since 1979. The next highest one-year total was the $124 million reported in 2002.

"It was huge ... (2004) was a monster year for construction up here," said Bert Bell, president of GHEMM Co., one of the major contractors in Fairbanks. "I think everybody was busy last year. The union halls were pretty well tapped out, and it's been a busy winter. It has not been a winter that work has let up."

Those borough statistics do not include military construction work on Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base, according to borough officials. Additionally, zoning permits are not required for construction in general-use areas of the borough and building permits, while encouraged, are not required outside city limits.

"For us, the bulk of money is federal money, which was certainly the biggest impact up here last year," Bell said.

His company worked on several projects at Fort Wainwright, including construction of a hotel, Bassett Army Community Hospital and power plant renovations.

In addition to Fairbanks-area military spending, construction continued in 2004 to accommodate missile defense capabilities at Fort Greeley. Pogo Mine construction kicked off in 2004, as did construction of a new power plant in North Pole.

More recently, talk about the natural gas pipeline has intensified, Bell noted, with "a bit more optimism now. Those kind of issues will spur more private construction."

That appears to be the case for construction within the Fairbanks city limits, where values topped $141 million in 2004, according to the city's building officer, Steve Shuttleworth.

That's well above historical yearly averages of $45 million, and the 2003 construction value tally of $70 million, a strong year itself for Fairbanks city construction values.

Roughly 80 percent of new construction in the city in 2004 came from the private sector, somewhat unusual for the Fairbanks area. "Historically, data indicates that there has been more government and public sector spending," said Shuttleworth. "That's extremely good news for Fairbanks."

A majority of the new construction work within the city boundaries is commercial development, he added. That trend is similar to the borough's statistics, where more than half of the $218 million total came from new commercial projects.

While under confidentiality requirements with various developers, Shuttleworth did say that he anticipates 2005 totals in the $60 million to $80 million range. "We're still in that ballpark, although developers keep plans so close to the vest, I don't see the fast ball until it hits the mitt," he said.

His office received building plans in early February for four large retail projects to be built on Bentley Trust land just west of the recently-opened Lowe's, on the rapidly developing northeast side of Fairbanks. Included in that development are plans for a 26,000 square-foot Barnes and Noble bookstore, a 45,000 square-foot Alaska Sportsman's Warehouse, an 18,000 square-foot Old Navy and a 15,000 square-foot Petco, a project slated to start in April 2005.

Shuttleworth also expects to soon receive building plans for a four-story office building, also to be built in 2005. "What we've been told is that we will get a whole lot more than this," he said. "This is the third year of this - it's really amazing."

The level of construction in the Fairbanks area "...has tapped the personnel resources to handle it, from top management on down to the apprentice level," Bell said. "I do think it is a good, positive impact for the community. It's a good time to be involved in the construction industry."

Interior Alaska construction has evolved from past years, when work shut down for winter, he added. "Now it's basically a year-round industry. In the winter, it costs more to work, but they want it done now."

Two large-scale construction projects that continued through winter months in Fairbanks include a new fire station being built in downtown Fairbanks, and a new railroad depot being built off the Johansen Expressway.

The city's new fire station, a $7.5 million project containing 27,578 square feet of building space, is scheduled to be complete in July 2005, according to Patrick Smith, project manager for the city.

Crews are also continuing to work on the Alaska Railroad's new depot, being built on a 32-acre site adjacent to the existing railroad operation yard. The new Fairbanks Intermodal Facility will feature a state-of-the-art train depot, additional bus parking and passenger connections on trains, buses, taxis and automobiles, according to the railroad's project statement. Access will be provided with a new intersection and road at the intersection of the Johansen Expressway and Danby Road.