City of Salem Public Works Operations Building

Cherry City Electric served as the electrical contractor for Salem’s $39M project—a 50,000-sq-ft, two-story mass timber facility replacing a 1950s building. The new structure consolidates four city offices, improves operational efficiency, and enhances emergency response for wildfires, floods, and ice storms. Fully electric and equipped with solar panels, it supports Oregon’s first local microgrid. MEP and fire protection systems were integrated with aesthetics in mind, using chases in mass plywood panels to route utilities over beams. Early coordination of beam penetrations and collaboration with timber, MEP, and fire protection partners streamlined design. A robust BIM process ensured clash-free overhead utilities and enabled design revisions that saved time and costs.