Howard S. Wright built a number of high-profile projects, including the Bank of America Tower, shown under construction.

Howard Sprague Wright founded Howard S. Wright Construction Co. in 1885 based on his strengths in building houses and relationships. Moving from Port Townsend to Everett and then to Seattle, Howard S. Wright's legacy would span three generations.

One of the company's most renowned accomplishments was building Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair. For this single event, Howard S. Wright not only built the landmark Space Needle, but also constructed the monorail system, the Washington State Coliseum, the World of Tomorrow exhibit, the Seattle Center parking garage and display buildings for many participating corporate clients.

Other projects built by the contractor include several Microsoft buildings, the Norton Building, Seattle First National Bank Building (now called 1001 Fourth Avenue) and the Columbia Seafirst Center (now called Bank of America Tower).

Though it was owned for nearly a decade by the New Zealand-based Fletcher Chal-lenge Ltd., a group of local senior management bought Howard S. Wright Construction back in 1996. Management now bills itself as a start-up company with a 115-year legacy.