MERIDEN — Big changes at the downtown Hub site will mean large amounts of soil hauled out of the city. Close to 100,000 tons of soil will be removed from the Hub over the next 18 months as part of a redevelopment project. For years, officials have been planning to create flood storage by unearthing Harbor Brook and turning the parcel into a park.
To create the flood storage space, machinery will excavate the soil, much of which is contaminated from past industrial uses. The material will be hauled down Interstate 91 to the infamous “tire pond” on the Hamden-North Haven town line. “They say timing is everything and timing was perfect for us,” said Public Works Director Robert Bass. Since 2002, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has been sending millions of tons of soil and sedimentation to the tire pond as the state tries to cover what has been described as the country’s largest tire dump. The pond was illegally filled with an estimated 20 million tires over the years as a private disposal site. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Renovation of the technical high school by Glastonbury-based Gilbane Building Co. started in early 2012, and is expected to be finished by this September, Hylwa said. The state-funded $77.9 million project includes renovating the building “like new,” and adding some new construction to the north and south sides of the school. Now in the third and final phase of the process, the work is on schedule. “Parts of this building were built in the 1960s,” Hylwa said, “so they were in desperate need of some updating.” Updates include things like completely renovated classrooms that now feature interactive Smart Boards. Though students say they’re happy with the renovations, the process has not been an easy one. Portable classrooms are in use in the front of the school campus to house students whose classrooms were being renovated, outdoor corridors are often the only way to get from one part of the building to another, and technical issues in the school have caused headaches for everyone involved. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Mystic - The developer of a proposed 55-unit luxury condominium project on the former Mystic Color Lab property site has temporarily withdrawn its plans in the midst of its public hearing before the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission. The commission had started the hearing on the application by Edgewood Mac LLC on Jan. 7 and then continued it to tonight. The commission has now canceled tonight's hearing in light of the withdrawal. Edgewood Mac attorney Ted Ladwig of Pawcatuck said Monday the plans were withdrawn after Edgewood learned from the town last week that the commission had approved a modified plan for the site in 2008. Edgewood Mac had been comparing its new design of four buildings with three stories over a garage and surrounding a courtyard to the one the commission had originally approved for the project in 2005 which called for two buildings of four stories over a garage. Edgewood had maintained its revised plan, which includes architectural features such a recreated tower, was much more appealing because it was more in keeping with the character of Mystic. But the 2008 modification, which Ladwig said Edgewood was not aware of, altered the original plan so it would have three stories. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
North Stonington emergency services building could cost $2M less
North Stonington - Architecture and engineering firm Silver/Petrucelli presented a pared-down plan Monday night for a new emergency services complex, suggesting that $2 million could be shaved off the cost of the original proposal. Voters approved a $6.36 million project last summer, which called for a two-story, 18,000-square-foot building to replace the aging firehouse on Rocky Hollow Road and combine the facility with the town's ambulance service, located now on Mains Crossing.
Principal architect Dean Petrucelli told committee members Wednesday that a one-story building would mean both a more efficient use of space and significantly lower costs, particularly by eliminating the need for elevators and cutting down on unnecessary hallway space.
Monday's joint meeting was the first between Silver/Petrucelli and the Emergency Services Building Committee, which has formed a subcommittee to begin working on the initial design. The firm expects construction to begin in 2015 and wrap up by the end of that year.
New Haven officials to address saftey concerns at East Rock Bridge site
NEW HAVEN >> Three barricades along the East Rock Road Bridge construction site block vehicles from entering the site, but yard-wide spaces between the barricades allow pedestrians onto the site, and potentially onto the bridge platform, despite no railing or suspension cables in place on either side of the platform. The Farnam Drive entrance to the bridge, which runs over the Mill River, is completely gated off. City Engineer Larry Smith said the site is supposed to be secured every day and that “people shouldn’t be able to walk up to the job site.” Smith said he would visit the site first thing in the morning and “drill down” on both the contractor and inspector if he finds the safety measures to be inadequate. Smith said he hasn’t received any complaints about the site from residents in the area. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
North Stonington emergency services building could cost $2M less
North Stonington - Architecture and engineering firm Silver/Petrucelli presented a pared-down plan Monday night for a new emergency services complex, suggesting that $2 million could be shaved off the cost of the original proposal. Voters approved a $6.36 million project last summer, which called for a two-story, 18,000-square-foot building to replace the aging firehouse on Rocky Hollow Road and combine the facility with the town's ambulance service, located now on Mains Crossing.
Principal architect Dean Petrucelli told committee members Wednesday that a one-story building would mean both a more efficient use of space and significantly lower costs, particularly by eliminating the need for elevators and cutting down on unnecessary hallway space.
Monday's joint meeting was the first between Silver/Petrucelli and the Emergency Services Building Committee, which has formed a subcommittee to begin working on the initial design. The firm expects construction to begin in 2015 and wrap up by the end of that year.
New Haven officials to address saftey concerns at East Rock Bridge site
NEW HAVEN >> Three barricades along the East Rock Road Bridge construction site block vehicles from entering the site, but yard-wide spaces between the barricades allow pedestrians onto the site, and potentially onto the bridge platform, despite no railing or suspension cables in place on either side of the platform. The Farnam Drive entrance to the bridge, which runs over the Mill River, is completely gated off. City Engineer Larry Smith said the site is supposed to be secured every day and that “people shouldn’t be able to walk up to the job site.” Smith said he would visit the site first thing in the morning and “drill down” on both the contractor and inspector if he finds the safety measures to be inadequate. Smith said he hasn’t received any complaints about the site from residents in the area. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING