STAMFORD — When the new Stamford Hospital opens in September, patients will find large and luxurious single rooms with expansive views, high-tech cardiac care and an emergency department that will be the first in the region to boast specialized pediatric treatment.
The myriad changes that will transform patient care on every one of the 11 floors of the new $450 million hospital were on view during a tour Wednesday.
Construction is about 85 percent complete, and 400 workers were busy laying tile, threading wires and putting on the finishing touches in anticipation of a June completion date.
Then comes rigorous training of staff to care for patients in a hospital that will be vastly bigger and more sophisticated than the one it’s replacing.
No detail was too small for consideration in the quest to improve patient safety, care or comfort, said Kathleen Silard, Stamford Hospital’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
From nursing stations that allow caregivers to keep a closer eye on vulnerable patients to no-slip showers in the bathrooms to state-of-the-art operating rooms with equipment suspended from the ceiling, every aspect of care was “reimagined.”
“A lot of attention was paid to making things very accessible to the staff, so we can increase the amount of time the staff is spending with the patients,” Silard said.
The key to renewals is power transmission
If the United States is going to get serious about cutting carbon emissions from oil and gas, it will have to find ways to scale up its use of renewable energy. Converting wind and solar power into electricity is, in some ways, the easy part. The bigger challenge is developing the infrastructure to transmit that electricity across the country.
In the case of wind, most of that power is generated far from the urban centers that would use it. Transmission would require a new nationwide system of power lines reaching from the windiest parts of the country. Such a system could also allow power suppliers the flexibility to shift supply depending on variations in weather.
But some residents in those areas don’t want power lines crossing their property. One project, called the Grain Belt Express and intended to run from Kansas to Illinois, is on hold after being voted down by the Missouri Public Service Commission. There was considerable opposition from landowners, who worried the lines would be unsightly or interfere with farming. Some area residents also objected to the idea of companies building on Missourians’ land in order to sell power elsewhere.
Transmission lines are generally safe, but they would change the appearance of open space in the West and the Midwest. In some cases, lines can be placed underground. But underground lines are far more expensive to construct and maintain than aboveground lines, and lower costs would translate into lower electricity rates for consumers. Lower rates could also speed the nation’s transition from gas-powered cars to hybrid and electric vehicles, further reducing emissions. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Tax credits pave way for demolition of Meriden housing complex
MERIDEN — The Meriden Housing Authority recently received an integral piece of funding for a new residential/commercial building at 177 State St., which will pave the way for emptying and demolishing the remaining Mills Memorial Apartment buildings.
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority announced at the end of March that six proposed multifamily housing developments across the state — including 177 State St. — would receive a portion of $7.1 million in federal tax credits. These tax credits, leveraged with private investment and investment by the MHA, will fund the construction of a four-story, 96,700-square-foot mixed-use, mixed-income building with 75 apartments, roughly 7,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space, and an 80-space parking lot.
In order to build the development, however, the city must transfer its properties at 177 State St. and 62 Cedar St. to the MHA, and in return the housing authority will transfer its property at 144 Pratt St. to the city. Currently, two low-rise Mills buildings stand at 144 Pratt St.
This recent award of tax credits “is the final piece where that swap happens, and Mills residents get relocated in their entirety, and the Mills megablock gets redeveloped,” said city Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Next week, the Ad Hoc School Building committee hopes to bring the project before the Board of Selectmen and then the Board of Finance before a town meeting and referendum in the coming months.
The building project will include a two-story addition onto the existing gymatorium that would house both the middle and high school, and a renovation of the elementary school, adding a central kitchen and multipurpose room.
Chairman of the Ad Hoc School Building Committee Mike Urgo went through a few changes in the presentation ahead of the vote. He said the amount of the project remained unchanged: $38.5 million, or $23 million after state reimbursement.
A new enrollment report showed a dip in projected enrollment over the next few years, and the committee used those figures to estimate a slight dip in the reimbursement at both schools, which Urgo said is leading to their recommendation to apply for the state space standard waiver, which would bring the project's cost to the town to around $21.5 million.
The second was to include $1.1 million to cover the cost of short-term financing, which the committee based on its predicted cash flow. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Park Avenue Development In West Hartford Receives About $10M In Tax Credits
WEST HARTFORD — A $20 million mixed-use development project on New Park Avenue recently was awarded about $10 million in federal tax credits from the Connecticut Finance Housing Authority.The 54-unit transit-oriented development, called 616 New Park, is expected to start construction in the fall, with completion in 2018, said George Howell, executive director of the West Hartford Housing Authority and CEO of the separate nonprofit corporation Trout Brook Realty Advisors.
Trout Brook Realty Advisors, the developer, aims to create, preserve and revitalize a wide range of housing and community development opportunities, according to the West Hartford Housing Authority site. The development will be on the former Pontiac dealership site, directly north of the Elmwood CTfastrak station.
"It's a game changer as far as I'm concerned with respect to what is happening on the street, and what is happening in that neighborhood," Howell said. "We bring people and activity to the table with a dramatic design." The development was one of six projects awarded the federal tax credits. Nineteen developers applied to CHFA, Howell said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUEDOT To Drivers: Pay Attention At Work Sites
There were 900 crashes in work zones on Connecticut's roads in 2014, 286 of which were caused by drivers who followed vehicles too closely, the state's transportation agency said Wednesday.
The statistics were released as a part of an effort to increase the safety of workers at roadside construction sites, the Department of Transportation said through Cashman & Katz, an advertising agency. This is Work Zone Safety Awareness Week.
Six people died in work zone crashes in 2014, and three died last year, the DOT said. The only statistics available for 2015 dealt with fatal crashes.
Of 30 possible causes for the 2014 crashes, the most common was following too closely. That was the top factor in all worksite crashes since the year 2000, with 5,329 accidents, the DOT said.The second most common factor in worksite crashes in 2014 was drivers making improper lane changes, which happened 138 times, followed by drivers losing control, which happened 102 times. Those also were the second and third most common factors in all work zone crashes since 2000, the agency said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Developers move forward with housing plans for New Haven
NEW HAVEN >> St. Luke’s Development Corp. has streamlined its mixed-use affordable housing proposal for the Dixwell neighborhood, while two other apartment projects have received the zoning relief they sought.
A total of 64 apartments in two separate projects — one at the former Harold’s Bridal Shop at 19 Elm St. and the other at the English building at 418 State St. were granted variances and special exceptions by the Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday and now will advance to site plan review.
St. Luke’s Development Corp. has reduced the number of proposed apartments it wants to build from 40 to 28 and the height of the building from five stories to four stories in its latest submission to the BZA. Previous approval for zoning variances and a special exception for parking spaces for St. Luke’s to support the 40 apartments and commercial uses lapsed in December 2015 after the developer had difficulty obtaining financing. The St. Luke’s project involves multiple contiguous properties starting at 117 Whalley Ave., continuing to 10-12 Dickerman St. and 34-36 Sperry St. The five properties that constitute the development cover some 26,000 square feet within the automotive sales (BB) district with 10 percent in the adjacent RM-2 residential zone. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE