Designers unveil new University of Bridgeport dorm
The architectural firm Antinozzi Associates announced the design of the first new residence hall on the University of Bridgeport campus in decades. The four-story, 60,000-square-foot facility will house 220 students in a variety of configurations, including suites and traditional bedrooms, along with common rooms and student support services.
The structure will be across University Avenue from the former Shine Hall, a residence hall slated for demolition that has been out of use for years.
The university has been at or near capacity at its residence halls for years, officials said, with a growing number of students opting to live on campus. The new building is slated to be the first of several residence halls to be constructed in coming years.
The University of Bridgeport campus and the surrounding neighborhoods include many private homes in a community built by wealthy Bridgeport families during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The new residence hall is designed to embrace the local context by utilizing an architectural style of the same historic era, suggestive of a resort hotel, while using modern sustainability principles, the architects said this week.
Steeply pitched roofs with wide overhangs will shelter a facade above a terra-cotta masonry base, punctuated by a curved bay window with a front porch that welcomes students to an entrance lobby. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Second rebuilt I-95 service plaza opens in Fairfield
The new service plaza on the southbound side of Interstate 95 in Fairfield opened Thursday, completing a multi-year construction project on the local stretch of the highway that saw completion of the northbound service plaza late last year.
In addition to a reconfigured ExxonMobil fueling area, the new plaza houses fast-food outlets that include McDonald's, Subway and Dunkin' Donuts, as well as an Alltown Convenience Store.
The local service plazas, like others along the state's limited-access highways, are managed by Project Service LLC. The firm has a 35-year contract with the state to renovate and operate 23 service plazas on the highways.
Paul Landino, the president and CEO of Project Service, said in a press release announcing completion of the Fairfield service plazas: "Our Connecticut service plaza team is excited to provide great food choices, clean restrooms, fuel and convenience to the large number of travelers who pass through the Fairfield area. We have completed 20 of the service plazas so far, and look forward to continuing to serve those traveling on Connecticut's highways as we work to renovate the remaining service plazas in the state."
Asked about neighborhood pleas for sound and safety barriers to be erected around the plazas, Landino said Thursday that fencing has been erected on northbound side and some modifications are being made. Basically, he said, the fencing does not allow people to walk from the rest stop into the neighborhood.
On the southbound side, fencing will be erected on the plaza property, again to prevent people from going into the neighborhood. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Gateway Commons February water spill disrupts nearby wetlands; town requiring repairs
East Lyme - The spill that washed away part of an emergency access road at a construction site last month and led to the loss of about 1.2 million gallons of water did enough damage that the town is requiring repairs to the nearby wetlands. The Inland Wetlands Agency will uphold two cease-and-restore orders concerning the residential portion of Gateway Commons being built off Interstate 95 Exit 73. The spill led to the erosion and silting of wetlands and a vernal pool. Hay bales were placed on site and excavators removed sedimentation to contain the damage on the day of the spill.
A mechanical failure at the development's water pump station under construction caused the leak, though its exact source still hasn't been determined. On Monday, the agency voted, following a show cause hearing, to uphold an order to restore the nearby wetlands and vernal pool following the Feb. 18 spill. The agency also upheld a second order related to earlier erosion control issues at the construction site. The orders are addressed to GDEL Residential of West Hartford LLC, Gateway Development East Lyme LLC, and Haynes Construction, the contractor, for property on Flanders Road. Remediation plans for the pump station failure, prepared by a soil scientist on behalf of Haynes Construction, state that the scientist arrived on site on Feb. 18 after being contacted by a developer. The scientist found silt on the snow-covered banks of the Pattagansett River, but said the water within the river was clear. The report also details "scour patterns" in the swamp near the access road, as well as a plume of sediment on site. According to the report, the soil scientist directed the installation of hay bales around the plume and excavators to remove silt. This "triage work" on Feb. 18 removed most of the sediment, the report states. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Berlin begins repair process for two town bridge
BERLIN — The town is moving to repair two bridges that were built in 1960 and are on a state list of spans needing improvement.
The bridges over the Mattabesset River on Burnham Street and over the smaller Sebethe River on High Road will be replaced with the help of state funds. The state will reimburse the town for 47 percent of eligible project costs.
The town council approved the projects earlier this month, clearing the way for hiring a Meriden engineering firm to design the replacements, deputy public works director James Horbal said Thursday.
The Burnham Street bridge has four culverts to carry the river on its way through the town's Kensington section. The metal of the culverts is rusting away, the railings are in poor condition and other parts are in need of repairs, Horbal said.
The High Road structure, actually a very large culvert, also is rusting, he said.
"Neither is in danger of falling apart, but both need repair," he said.
Both bridges were assessed last year by state transportation officials who inspect municipal bridges. Burnham received a "fair condition" rating of 4, while High received a "fair to poor" rating of 3 on a scale of scale of zero to 10.
Design work will begin this year on the two projects once the town planning and zoning commission reviews the proposals. Construction is likely to begin next year, once town and state agencies grant permits for the jobs. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New map shows no housing in the Haven South Development in West Haven
WEST HAVEN >> The proposed The Haven South Municipal Development Plan shows residential development in one location despite Mayor Ed O’Brien’s statements to the contrary.
But O’Brien said the plan, which is being drafted to reflect the proposed The Haven upscale outlet mall, is a “work in progress” and the housing’s inclusion was a consultant’s mistake based on out-of-date maps — and is in the process of being fixed. “That’s an old map. Housing has been taken out of the (Haven South) plan,” O’Brien said Tuesday. He spoke one day after resident Sandra LaRusso and former City Council member and Redevelopment Agency chairwoman Sharon Spaziani, among others, raised questions about elements of the plan at Monday night’s City Council meeting. O’Brien said the city, in negotiations with developers Sheldon Gordon and Ty Miller, has been saying it doesn’t want more housing until after a commercial phase of the project is built.
O’Brien also said that if residents with concerns would call his office with questions, they could get the right answers before making comments at meetings or posting incomplete, unclear or inaccurate information on social media. Many in West Haven think the city already has too much housing — and particularly has two much affordable housing. There is resistance to any more housing, even though anything included in the waterfront development would likely be upmarket. Tuesday evening, O’Brien forwarded a new map sent to him by the developer that showed no housing — and what appears to be a parking lot, instead — in the waterfront location at the east end of Main Street, near what is now Bayview Park, where an older map showed apartments. The new map also clearly shows six waterfront restaurants in The Haven South plan, which corresponds to what the developer previously called Phase 1 of the development. Four additional restaurants are shown in what would be The Haven North, or Phase 2, area north of Elm Street. Spaziani had questioned, among other things, why just one restaurant was shown in the plan after the developers previously had thrown out a higher figure. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction firms add 29,000 jobs in February
Construction employers added 29,000 jobs in February and 321,000 over the past year, reaching the highest employment total in six years, as the sector’s unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low of 10.6 percent, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that construction jobs in the highway and transit sector were at risk because of Washington gridlock.
“Despite challenging weather conditions in much of the country, both the number of workers and their average weekly hours rose last month to the highest levels since the recession,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “There are lots of good-paying, full-time jobs available in construction, with more work on the way.”
Construction employment totaled 6.35 million in February, the highest mark since February 2009, with a 12-month gain of 321,000 jobs or 5.3 percent, Simonson noted. Average weekly hours of all employees climbed to 39.6 hours and weekly earnings averaged $1,066 in construction, the highest levels in the nine-year history of both series. Weekly earnings in construction were 24 percent above the private-sector average.
Residential building and specialty trade contractors added a combined 16,700 employees since January and 167,800 (7.4 percent) over 12 months. Nonresidential contractors — building, specialty trade, and heavy and civil engineering construction firms — hired a net of 12,000 workers for the month and 153,400 (4.1 percent) since February 2014.
The number of workers who said they looked for work in the past month and had last worked in construction fell from 1.09 million a year earlier to 906,000—the lowest February mark in nine years.
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