Local Builder Leaves Legacy Of Landmarks -- Howard S. Wright Construction To Merge Into The Operation Of Its Parent Company

Howard S. Wright Construction Co., which built the Space Needle, Seattle Art Museum and Columbia Seafirst Center, is disappearing as an independent entity, merging into the operation of its parent company, a New Zealand conglomerate.

Now the company will be named Fletcher Wright Construction and be led by a new president under New Zealand-based Fletcher Challenge Limited.

The consolidation, to take effect Monday, will not result in any immediate layoffs, company officials said, but it means the end - at least in name - of a Seattle institution and the largest construction company in the Northwest.

Landmarks throughout the region will serve as the legacy of the company and "will just be forever a reminder of the quality of the work of Howard S. Wright," said Jerry Vanderwood, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of Washington.

Wright Construction was founded in 1885 by Howard S. Wright and erected many of Seattle's most famous landmarks. The company also made its mark in the area's suburbs, mainly with the construction of the Microsoft campus in Redmond.

As part of Wright Schuchart Co., the Seattle parent company, Wright Construction employed about 1,700 people in 1991, the most recent data available.

Fletcher officials said the change will allow Fletcher - sometimes described as The Boeing Co. of New Zealand because of its size and dominance - to improve communication and cooperation among its units and serve customers "with the most cost-effective value." Despite appointing a new president to oversee the division, the company will retain a Northwest focus and local management, officials said.

Vanderwood said the change will help the staff of Wright Construction survive the downturn in local construction and reflects a willingness on the part of the company to evolve and grow.

Also, he said, "It shows the mutual interdependence of the economies of the Pacific Rim nations and the Seattle area."

The move might be connected, at least in part, to politics in the local development industry.

Wright Construction officials have said in the past that they have had trouble getting contracts from some local developers because of their ties to a leading development company, Wright Runstad and Co., which was formed by Howard S. Wright but now operates separately. Wright Construction has built many projects developed by Wright Runstad, but can't always convince rivals to hire it.

Fletcher's consolidation actually involves several subsidiaries and divisions with similar names. Wright Schuchart Co. will be split into different divisions of Fletcher Construction Group.

Wright Construction Co. and Wright Schuchart Harbor Co., an industrial construction division, will be renamed and folded into Fletcher Construction Co. Northwest, a new subsidiary. General Construction Co., a civil and marine division, will retain its name but become part of Fletcher General.

Bruce Connor, president of Wright Schuchart, will become a director of Fletcher Construction Co. North America. Fletcher has hired an outside manager, Rod Sharp of Vancouver, B.C., as president of Fletcher Construction Co. Northwest, filling the role Connor has served.

The Wright Construction institution has undergone several changes in recent years.

Howard S. Wright's grandson, also Howard S. Wright, sold his interest in the company in 1986 to his cousin and partner, George S. Schuchart. Two years later, Fletcher bought the company but retained the local name.

Fletcher is a multibillion-dollar conglomerate operating construction, forestry and fishing companies, among others. It posted sales of $7.6 billion in 1991.