STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The University of Connecticut's Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a $140 million final budget for the construction of a new satellite campus in downtown Hartford, $25 million more than originally projected.
Laura Cruickshank, UConn's master planner and chief architect, told the board that more work than expected will be needed to stabilize the former Hartford Times Building, the centerpiece of the campus, and to restore the facade of the building.
She said the design plan had called for spending about $6 million on renovations to the building, but the actual cost will be about $12 million.
Construction bids on the entire project also came in higher than expected, she said.
The additional funds will come from a pool of contingency money that was built into the state's 10-year, $2 billion Next Generation Connecticut bonding program to upgrade the university's infrastructure, Cruickshank said.
"We specifically allocated contingency for situations like this, because you simply don't know, especially in renovating an old building," she said. "We don't have any problems covering this cost."
Cruickshank said the school's contracts with the developers ensure there will be no further significant increases to the state in the cost of the project. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bill Hornbuckle, the MGM Resorts president, announced that his company was upping its investment to more than $950 million from the original $800 million.
“We’re as proud of this project today as we were in September 2012,” when it was first proposed, Hornbuckle said, addressing an audience at CityStage, a downtown venue where residents filled a 479-seat theater.
He later said he would stake his reputation and his career on the project.
In recent months, design changes characterized by some as a downsizing had raised questions about the viability of the project. In particular, the elimination of a 25-story hotel tower and a 14 percent reduction in overall square footage had caused alarm in a city counting on the project’s promise of jobs and revenue.
Hornbuckle said the changes had to be made “for all kinds of reasons” and that they would result in a better project.
Mike Mathis, the MGM Springfield president, said MGM would meet all terms of the “host community agreement” it reached with the city, among them guarantees of $25 million in annual payments, 2,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs once the project is built. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
East Lyme superintendent presents elementary school plan
East Lyme — More than 50 residents attended a community forum Wednesday on a proposal endorsed by the school board to completely renovate Niantic Center School, build a new Flanders Elementary School and give the Lillie. B Haynes School building to the town.
Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Newton said the proposed plan entails two elementary schools, each with about a 400-student capacity, that feature flexible learning spaces, geothermal heating and cooling, and enhanced safety features.
The completely renovated 70,671-square-foot Niantic Center School would include a new gym and additional parking spaces and would house first-graders and kindergarteners on the first floor, according to the presentation.
Flanders School, which would be rebuilt as a 82,135-square-foot building behind the existing school, would have new parking, bus and drop-off areas. It also would accommodate pre-kindergarten classes for students in the district with special needs.
The project would cost the town an estimated $58,713,124 after state reimbursement, based on a timeline in which the project is approved at a March 2016 referendum.
He said the school district will save $750,000 in its annual operating budgets by going from the current three schools to a two-school plan.
If the project is approved at a referendum in March 2016, the two-year process of construction could begin in July 2017 and finish in the summer of 2019, according to the presentation. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Torrington Historical Trust proposes transit facility be included in mixed-use development
TORRINGTON >> The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust has put forward a study regarding the brownfields formerly occupied by the Hendey Machine Company, which suggests that the site be turned into a mixed-use development with both commercial and residential aspects.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is currently engaged in an ongoing effort to construct a transit facility at 200 Litchfield St. to be utilized by the Northwestern Connecticut Transit District for the storage and maintenance of its buses.
As part of this plan, ConnDOT planned to demolish the buildings on site, prompting the attention of the Torrington Historic Preservation Trust.
The market feasibility study was crafted by Gorman+York Property Advisors, an East Hartford-based firm, on behalf of the trust, and funded through a grant from the state Historic Preservation Office of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
Taking into account Torrington’s status as the urban center of Litchfield County, and thus as the heart of a micropolitan area, it suggests that the site be repurposed into “129 units, 34,000 square feet of first-floor commercial and 90+ enclosed parking spaces.”
The study also includes analysis of the potential retail and rental market in the region, as well as diagrams of three possible layouts for the mixed-use development, all of which include the transit facility in one form or another. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Master fix for Mixmaster
State outlines plan for Waterbury interchange
WATERBURY — The state Department of Transportation plans to rehabilitate the Mixmaster — the network of ramps, bridges and stacked highway that comprise the Route 8 and Interstate 84 interchange — to extend its service life for another 25 years. Many of the bridges and ramps, built in the 1960s, have deteriorated to point that they're in "poor" condition by the DOT's standards, but they are safe, said Robert Brown, the DOT's supervising engineer for bridges.
The $190 million rehabilitation project, scheduled to go out to bid in fall 2017 with construction beginning in spring 2018, should ensure the Mixmaster continues to be safe until it can be replaced. The work is expected to be finished by fall 2022.
The DOT presented plans for the rehabilitation during a public information and scoping meeting Wednesday night at Crosby High School. About 20 members of the public attended.
The project entails repairing 10 bridges and several connecting ramps, along with rehabilitation and span replacement on Route 8 southbound and full deck replacement on Route 8 northbound.
Corrosion on the underside of bridges suggests water has worked its way through the joints and become trapped in the structures, Brown said. In some places, there's even exposed rebar.
"These are telltale signs of deterioration to the point where we need rehabilitation," Brown said.
During construction, all lanes will remain open during peak traffic hours. However, lane closures will occur during off-peak hours and at night.
Some ramps on Route 8 will be temporarily closed, and detours will be in effect.
The DOT proposes a bypass road around a section of Route 8 northbound that needs to be repaired.
The bypass road would take vehicles off Route 8 just south of Exit 31, over the Mad River, along Jackson Street, back over the Mad River and along Riverside Street before reentering the highway.
Because the bypass would block the exits for I-84 eastbound and westbound, vehicles needing to access I-84 from Route 8 northbound would be directed to swing a U-turn over the median at Exit 35 and merge onto Route 8 southbound to I-84.
Alderman Lawrence V. De Pillo asked several questions, including what properties the DOT would take to build the temporary bypass and the impact on the city's tax rolls.
Michelle Miller, the DOT's rights of way coordinator, said the state will acquire three properties, which are currently owned by Eversource, Yankee Gas and Laidlaw Transit, and obtain several easements.
If we're taking taxable property off the tax rolls, I want to know where they're being relocated in Waterbury so it will not reduce the tax rolls," De Pillo said.