By Linda Conner Lambeck
BRIDGEPORT — The final beam of the steel frame welded into place, the new $50.8 million Longfellow School enjoyed a topping off ceremony on Thursday although it was hard to hear speakers over the hum of construction.
Mayor Bill Finch called that a good thing.
Despite delays caused by the removal of contaminated soil and a change in one of the contractors, the project that has consumed much of Ocean Terrace in front of the PT Barnum Housing complex is now proceeding with a target opening date of late 2016.
The 75,680 square foot school will have 29 classrooms and be able to accommodate 550 students. At the present time, the student body of Longfellow is scattered across several schools in the city.
Finch said the school will meet the LEED Silver Classification in terms of energy conservation.
“It means it is a greener building,” he said.
Interim Schools Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz Jettie Tisdale, a long time principal at Longfellow would be proud.
“It’s going to be phenomenal inside too,” Rabinowitz said, promising that the school will have a science, math and technology theme. She also promised the long wait will be worth it.
Plymouth must purchase lot to proceed with Bemis Street construction
PLYMOUTH — The town is looking into buying an approximately one-acre parcel at the bottom of Bemis Street to use as a retention pond when the repaving of the road starts next year.
Mayor David Merchant said the land is on the east side of Smith Street and will be used for the drainage coming down the hill on Bemis. The property owners have agreed to sell for $150,000, he said.
This part of the project needs to be arranged before the state Department of Transportation will release a $2.2 million grant to do the Bemis work, he said.
“They promised me that they would reimburse us that money within a couple of weeks after we purchase it, and then once we own the property then they’ll release that $2.2 million.”
Merchant told the Town Council that Town Attorney Bill Hamzy will come back with a contract for the purchase next month.
“At this point in time, as much as we wanted Bemis Street under construction this year, it’s not going to happen,” Merchant said. “It’s August now and by the time we get all this stuff put together Bemis Street will probably be started in the early spring.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Proposed Middletown FedEx hub would alleviate workload
MIDDLETOWN >> According to FedEx Ground employees and contractors, a hub facility in the old Aetna site has “risen to the top” of the company’s shortlist of new locations as part of a major network expansion plan. C.J. Girod of Ryan & Company, who is contracted by FedEx Ground for its expansion of 10 new hubs, said at a Wednesday night meeting of the Economic Development Commission that a Willington-based hub now services the entire Connecticut region.
The wheel-and-spoke system relies on these central centers to sort and ship packages to satellite facilities. FedEx’s application for the old Aetna site on Middle Street and Industrial Park Road would provide relief to the Northern Connecticut facility, handling 30,000 packages per hour by 2018 if the application is approved. According to Girod, the proposed facility would be able to handle 45,000 packages per hour in the future with planned material handling and equipment expansions.
Tim Scherling, who will serve as the project manager for the hub’s construction, said the Willington distribution plant, built 25 years ago, has slightly outdated technology, and a new facility would include upgrades.
Girod said a hub project in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is “about a year ahead” of the proposed 240-acre Middletown project, although FedEx Ground is certain it still wants a second hub in the Northeast region. According to Girod, the company would make an estimated $220 million investment and would hire 160 full-time employees and 220 part-time employees in 2018 before the full phase operation, which would employ 400 full-timers and 600 part-timers. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Cleanup, construction continues at former church and Morse site in Meriden
MERIDEN — As flood control work continues through the city, one property should start to look different fairly soon.
The former Church and Morse hardware and Meriden Auction Rooms properties at 33 and 51-53 S. Colony St. will continue to be cleaned up this year.
The buildings were torn down in September to gain access to the railroad bridge behind them. A twin culvert will be added to the bridge to prevent chronic flooding in an area where Harbor Brook takes a sharp turn.
Crews from NASDI Site Developers, the Waltham, Massachusetts, company responsible for the buildings’ demolition, were on the site last week to finish the demolition.
City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior said two chimneys on the south end of the Church and Morse site, as well as an asbestos pipe on the north side of the property had to be removed.
Crews built a small tent to shield the removal of those pieces from public exposure since they contained certain levels of asbestos, Public Works Director Robert J. Bass said.
Once the NASDI crews finish with removing those items, which Bass said he hopes to be complete by mid-August, the company will inspect the site to ensure everything that needed to be removed was removed, Bass said. Then an environmental firm will inspect the area for the city. If the firm signs off on the site, then Meriden-based LaRosa Construction Co. can remove the rest of the debris and bricks and backfill the site with soil.
Kendzior said the city chose the New York-based Judlau Contracting Inc. to complete the culvert work. Judlau was already contracted as one of the firms doing work on the Hartford Line rail updates. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Lisbon gets grants to fix bridges
Lisbon gets grants to fix bridges
LISBON - Two town bridges in dire need of repairs just got a big boost from the state.
The Department of Transportation Local Bridge Program approved $365,309 in grant funding for Lisbon to fix the School House Road bridge and Bundy Hill Road bridge over Blissville Brook.
Although the town received funding for both projects, First Selectman Thomas Sparkman said the Bundy Hill Road bridge is the main priority and will be repaired first. The total cost of the Bundy Hill project is $414,616 and with the $198,393 grant from the state, the town would have to cover the remaining $216,223.
A Town Meeting will be held for residents to vote on the appropriation of town funding for those repairs. Sparkman said there is no date yet for the meeting or for the repairs to begin and has not committed the town to any financial expense.
The School House Road bridge grant is $166,916 and will be taken care of with a town vote for funds after Bundy Hill is fixed.
But both small bridges in residential neighborhoods cross over ponds and both are used by pedestrians and vehicle traffic.
Town Engineer Bob Deluca of CLA Engineers in Norwich examined the bridges and found additional problems with the Bundy Hill Bridge. After storms over the years, a steel pipe was washed out of place. Currently the bridge is held together with only concrete.
Connecticut and the federal government are spending about $420 million to create commuter rail service along the existing Amtrak route, which runs roughly parallel to I-91. Because the railroad owns the trackbed, it has extensive power in deciding what, where and when construction can be done.
Malloy complained to federal Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in May that Amtrak has been mismanaging the project so badly that it appeared behind schedule and over budget. Malloy sought federal pressure on Amtrak, which is funded by Congress and regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Amtrak starting running buses in place of trains this week on half of its scheduled trips between New Haven and Springfield, a system intended to last for about a year.
That leaves the trackbed clear so construction crews can have large blocks of time to install a second set of tracks on the stretch from Hartford to New Haven. Amtrak runs about a dozen trains each day on a single track now, but Connecticut envisions a high-frequency commuter service that will require two tracks so multiple CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
“With Bundy Hill there was a 6 foot pipe that was found to be completely corroded and was deteriorated,” Deluca said. “The integrity is in question. There is no immediate danger and it’s been like that for a few years. It’s stable around where the pipe was.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said that Amtrak's cooperation in starting heavy construction on the Hartford Line represents progress but expects it will take another two months to determine whether the project can get done on time and on budget.
Malloy said significant disagreements remain between the railroad and the state, and he plans a trip to Washington, D.C., in September to try to enlist help from federal transportation officials in resolving them. Connecticut and the federal government are spending about $420 million to create commuter rail service along the existing Amtrak route, which runs roughly parallel to I-91. Because the railroad owns the trackbed, it has extensive power in deciding what, where and when construction can be done.
Malloy complained to federal Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in May that Amtrak has been mismanaging the project so badly that it appeared behind schedule and over budget. Malloy sought federal pressure on Amtrak, which is funded by Congress and regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
Amtrak starting running buses in place of trains this week on half of its scheduled trips between New Haven and Springfield, a system intended to last for about a year.
That leaves the trackbed clear so construction crews can have large blocks of time to install a second set of tracks on the stretch from Hartford to New Haven. Amtrak runs about a dozen trains each day on a single track now, but Connecticut envisions a high-frequency commuter service that will require two tracks so multiple CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE