October 3, 2013

CT Construction Digest October 3, 2013

Three Rivers to replace 300 PCB contaminated windows

By next spring, three wings at Three Rivers Community College will boast new windows free of contaminants.The project — at a cost of $1.51 million — is being paid for with State Bond Commission money that was approved Sept. 27. But what remains a mystery to Three Rivers administrators is exactly how many of the windows, which were installed using PCB-containing caulk, are set to be replaced.
“A boatload,” President Grace Jones said Wednesday.

Bridges, roadwork to be the focus in Gaylordsville

The New Milford Public Works Department will hold an informal public information meeting Monday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Gaylordsville firehouse, located at 700 Kent Road (Route 7).
The meeting will provide an update on current and upcoming road and bridge construction projects in the Gaylordsville area of town. Engineering staff will be available to answer questions.

Bristol: Officials break ground on new boys and girls club

BRISTOL — Though work on the new Bristol Boys & Girls Club likely won’t get underway until next week, officials gathered on the West Street site Wednesday for a formal groundbreaking that brought together many of the people who made the $11 million project possible. If everything goes according to plan, the new facility will open by Labor Day next year. “I still have a hard time believing it’s happening,” said Michael Suchopar, the club’s director.
The new Don Tinty Boys & Girls Club and Family Center will house a massive field house, a technology center, a teen room, an arts and culture center and much more. It will replace the club’s aging quarters on Laurel Street, which is already for sale. Under a bright, sunny sky, Gov. Dannel Malloy hailed the grass-roots effort to raise the necessary cash – the club so far has pledges for $10 million of the $12 million it needs – and congratulated the community for putting the needs of children front and center.
 
 
BRISTOL — The main cafeteria at ESPN, which serves up a wide range of meals to thousands each day, is slated to close for a year next summer to allow for an expansion that will nearly double its size.The existing eatery, constructed in 2000, is far too small to handle the crush of customers it has to deal with daily, company officials said.“We have grossly outnumbered our seating capacity,” said John Cistulli, ESPN’s senior director for global construction and facilities engineering.
To cope with ESPN’s rapid growth over the years, the company intends to add 20,000 square feet to the cafeteria — just shy of doubling its size — including a 200-person conference room.
While the one-story addition is under construction starting next July, ESPN intends to open a temporary cafeteria it will erect in a parking lot next door. Cistulli said ESPN recognized that shutting down the cafeteria for 12 months would pose “quite a hardship” for employees.
 
 
Fred and Lorraine Joiner won't let a little road construction stop them from driving to Puffins Restaurant on Thames Street in the city of Groton. They've been going there for years, and they're not going to stop now. "I think all of the businesses are hurting, but the road has to be done, so you deal with it," said Lorraine Joiner, of Norwich. She said getting to Puffins was worth a few minutes of inconvenience. Voters passed a $6.37-million bond referendum in May 2011 to reconstruct Thames Street, and after some waiting, the work started in July. Gary Parker, of Milone & MacBroom, the design and construction administrator for the project, said workers were nearly done with the drainage improvements from Bridge Street to School Street and had installed new sidewalks and granite curbing on one side of the road. The company took out most of the old drain pipes and installed new ones, and added pipes where there were none. Workers were busy last week finishing the piping work and removing existing curbing and sidewalks.

Crews prep former Killingly school office building for demolition

Workers on Wednesday were scheduled to begin cleaning asbestos from the Killingly school district’s former central administration office on Main Street in anticipation of demolishing the dilapidated structure next week, officials said. Yellow caution tape was strung between several barriers on Wednesday outside the 133-year-old structure at 369 Main St. that for years was home to the district’s central office staff, including the superintendent. Last month, the town accepted a $22,499 low bid from Norwich-based Wiese Construction & Environmental Co. for the asbestos abatement, Town Manger Bruce Benway said. “We approved an $18,000 bid on Monday, again with Wiese, for the actual demolition, which should start and end next week,” he said.

Griswold hopes to attract assisted living facility developer

A contractor hired by the town of Griswold is 85 percent done clearing property on East Main Street, and officials hope a developer will build a $15 million assisted living facility there in the near future.
David Kagen, the builder, is still seeking funding for the building, which would have approximately 60 units: studios, one-bedrooms, a half-dozen two-bedrooms and a separate area for the memory impaired. Kagen started making contact with funding sources earlier this month and said he believes there is a definite market for such a facility in Griswold. “My observation is that the area is underserved from an assisted living standpoint,” he said.

Berlin gets state help to clean up factory site

BERLIN — The $892,000 in "brownfields" state aid to help clean up an old industrial site is on its way, after town officials approved new applications required to reauthorize their requests.
The town council has approved the reauthorization — a clerical move needed to update initial requests made months ago — economic director James Mahoney said Wednesday.
The state money will be used to demolish and clean Farmington Avenue property the town owns, which is adjacent to the planned site of a new police station and a boulevard path to the train station, which also is slated for an upgrade. The land at 889 Farmington Avenue was once the site of Pioneer Precision Products and is on a stretch of the road that will be renovated in the next few years to serve as a town center and transportation hub.