Grocery store in Oxford on track for June opening
The need for Oxford residents to leave town to buy groceries is almost over.
Market 32, a 54,000-square-foot supermarket in the Towne Center/Quarry Walk development, is set to open in June, according to KBE Building Corp., which has offices in Norwalk. The store is a brand of parent company Price Chopper.
Construction would be completed in May, with a few weeks afterward needed for designing and stocking the interior.
Market 32 is going up at the site of a former quarry owned by Seymour-based Haynes Group. It will be joined in the $70 million project by a Newtown Savings Bank branch, medical offices, about 200,000 square feet of retail space and 150 market-rate condominiums. The development is meant to create a downtown of sorts for a community that lacks a natural center.
Ace Hardware, a liquor store and a post office are among the confirmed tenants, said Kathy Ekstrom, development manager for Haynes.
“Winter has been kind to us,” she said, with the Newtown Savings work running ahead of schedule and looking at a May opening.
KBE is serving as general contractor for the $6.4 million Market 32 project, which was designed by Pepin Associates. The store with have a full-service pharmacy, bakery and florist, along with fresh meat, seafood and dairy departments. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Connecticut denies Schaghticokes OK to start developing a 3rd casino
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, which is not a federally recognized tribe, did not receive the state’s permission to form a business entity to look at developing a third casino in the state.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said her office made a mistake Tuesday in accidentally awarding the limited liability corporation. “The Special Act created a unique situation that raised the bar for review,” Merrill said Wednesday. “In this case it looks like the application was received in error. In 99.99 percent of the cases, we have to receive and file an LLC application without regard to the stated purpose of the entity. Anyone can start a business and we believe it should be easy to do. It appears in this case that the application meets the standard to create an LLC but not the requirements of the Special Act. We are looking into what additional action should be taken.”
Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe, have formed a joint venture to pursue construction of a third casino that was authorized by the General Assembly last year. The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation sought to form a similar business venture. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Budget Funds Renovation of Capitol Avenue Office Building
HARTFORD — The 84-year-old state office building on Capitol Avenue would get $181 million for major renovations and a new parking garage under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed state capital budget for 2017.
Ben Barnes, the governor's budget chief, said the cost of the project is now expected to be $205 million, down from an estimate last summer of $254 million. The legislature already has approved $24 million for studies, designs and construction drawings needed for the 320,000 square-foot building. "We'll see what their take on advancing the project is," Barnes said, after a briefing Wednesday on Malloy's budget proposal.
The five-story building, across the street from The Bushnell, would play a part in the state's plans to consolidate state office workers from leased space to state-owned buildings to save money. The renovations would increase the capacity of the structure to as many as 1,200 workers.
The project also is seen as a catalyst for further development in the area, now dominated by parking lots.
The exterior of 165 Capitol, faced in Indiana limestone and embellished with Art Deco flourishes, would be preserved; but inside, the floors would be almost entirely gutted and reconfigured with modern office layouts and amenities. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stratford firm cited again for workplace violations
A Stratford construction contractor that has been in trouble with federal workplace safety officials before is now facing over $48,000 in fines for failing to take proper precautions.
The federal Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Whole Life Construction failed to adequately protect its workers from falling off scaffolding or coming too close to power lines. Whole Life Construction, which is located at 306 Bird Circle in Stratford, was cited on Jan. 21 by OSHA for five repeat and two serious violations of workplace safety standards.
The violations occurred at a Bridgeport home where the company’s workers were doing a roofing job.
OSHA inspectors found four employees — three on the roof of the home and one on a scaffold — working without fall protection. These employees faced falls of more than 20 feet, according to the safety agency’s investigators.
In addition, the employees working on the roof had not been trained in fall protection.
OSHA inspectors also found that the scaffold was not properly erected and braced, and that employees were not trained to recognize scaffold hazards. It was also determined that the workers faced electrocution hazards because they were too close to energized power lines.
Robert Kowalski, OSHA’s area director in Bridgeport, said Whole Life Construction has been cited for similar hazards at work sites in New Haven and Danbury.
“This employer has again deprived its employees of required, life-saving protections,” Kowalski said in a statement. That is unacceptable. Whole Life Construction’s workers risked deadly and disabling injuries from potential falls, scaffold collapse and electrocution.”CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE