MERIDEN — In some places in the city, the need for construction is ongoing. So, too, then, is the need for people who work at those sites, despite below-freezing temperatures that gripped the state and country Tuesday. “I mean, what can I tell you? It stinks,” Karrie Kratz, senior project manager for the construction at Maloney High School, said of the cold Tuesday. “The work has to go on. though; there’s always some part of a construction job that’s going to be difficult during the winter, but we don’t stop,” she added. Even with a nose-to-the-grindstone attitude, it was hard to ignore the single-digit temperatures. With wind whipping through plastic tarps set up around the new scaffolding at Maloney, and bone-dry snow nowhere close to melting on the ground, most workers kept only the bare minimum amount of skin exposed, looking out through the gaps between hats and scarves. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
More money needed for Southington school project
SOUTHINGTON — Middle School Building Committee members expressed frustration after learning of additional costs for the installation of a sound attenuation in the gym’s heating unit at DePaolo Middle School and for changes to the students’ lockers. An additional $52,200 was used to install the sound reducer in DePaolo’s gym. About $248,800 was needed to change the plans and the lockers from two-tear to one-tear and to purchase locks for them. Many members said at their meeting Tuesday that they were “not happy” with the new bills. Kennedy and DePaolo middle schools are being renovated, an $89.7 million project that needed a second referendum when the initial cost of the work went up $4.7 million because of cost overruns and unexpected hazmat work. Work began on the schools in the summer of 2013. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
New Charter Oak School design: modern
WEST HARTFORD — The future Charter Oak International Academy will be a modern, circular brick building with lots of windows and natural light, a large courtyard with opportunities for outdoor learning spaces and several elements that recall the current 1929 building, according to a presentation by architects Tuesday night. The Perkins Eastman firm presented an updated schematic design and site layout to the school board. The presentation had been scheduled for Dec. 17 but was delayed by weather; the architects said they have continued to fine-tune the plans since then.
The architects are expected to come back to the board in about a month with a detailed schematic design and a cost estimate, and the board is expected to vote on it. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Middletown common council approves water main project
MIDDLETOWN — The common council on Monday night approved $1.93 million in bonding for a water main repair project later this year on Main Street.
The project will replace and repair sections of the water main between Washington Street and Hartford Avenue in the city's North End. Water and Sewer Director Guy Russo said engineering for the project is complete, and said the city will seek construction bids this month in order to begin work after April 1. If the project stays on schedule work can be completed by the end of the summer, he said. The city several years ago did a similar project south of Washington Street. Russo said the work will also include some realignment of water lines on North Main Street "to clean up the spaghetti nest up there." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING