Where: 62020 NE 27th St., Bend

Owner: Surf Thru Inc.

General contractor: SunWest Builders

Details: The small building under way just south of the Wilco Farm Stores will be the first Oregon location for Surf Thru Express Car Wash, a Bakersfield, California, company that touts its environmental stewardship.

“We’re an entirely different style and type of car wash,” Surf Thru co-owner Todd Gall said.

Surf Thru is locating just across 27th Street from an existing self-serve car wash. Gall said Surf Thru is different from most drive-through car washes because of the steps it takes to filter and conserve water and its “substantial” installation of solar panels over the vacuuming stations.

The construction should be finished by the end of October, said Wayne Powderly, senior project manager at SunWest Builders of Redmond.

The cost of construction on the 2,000-square-foot carwash building is around $2 million, Powderly said. “They’re small buildings, but they’re complicated with all the systems and equipment.”

Subcontractors on the project include Tomco Electric, Mountain View Heating, Bryan Young Plumbing, Northwest Quality Construction and Rasmussen Masonry, Powderly said.

Surf Thru has expanded recently in California and Nevada and is looking at other Oregon locations, Gall said.

One of Surf Thru’s main selling points is the “free” vacuuming stations, Gall said. (A basic wash is $7.) The stations include compressed-air hoses, which people can use to finish drying their vehicles and blast debris out of the interior. “We try to build as many vacuums as possible,” he said.

— Kathleen McLaughlin, The Bulletin