WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending was unchanged in July as weakness in spending on government projects offset gains in home building and the strongest month for non-residential construction on record.
Construction spending was flat in July but declines in May and June were revised to show slight gains, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Spending in June is now reported up 0.9 percent while May showed an increase of 0.1 percent.
The advance in July was led by a 1.7 percent increase in spending on non-residential projects which rose to an all-time high of $429.5 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Office building and shopping centers both showed solid gains.
Residential construction increased 0.3 percent in July but spending on government projects fell 3.1 percent, the fourth drop in the past five months.
Overall construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion in July, up a modest 1.5 percent from a year ago.
Residential construction, which had fallen for three straight months, rebounded slightly in July on the strength of increased spending on home remodeling projects. Spending on single-family home construction was down 0.2 percent while spending on apartment construction dropped 0.6 percent. Total home construction was up 1.9 percent from a year ago.
Non-residential construction has been up sharply in four of the past five months with July activity 7.1 percent higher than a year ago. In addition to solid gains in office and shopping center work, there were also strong increases in manufacturing and power plant construction. But spending on construction of hotels and motels was down 1.2 percent. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
If necessary, Gilbane Building Construction of Bristol could be brought in to help with the estimates but the council and Board of Finance would have to approve the funds to hire them, Mills said.
Memorial Boulevard was the city’s high school when it opened in 1921. In 1963, it became a middle school until it closed at the end of the 2011-12 school year. A task force to fundraise and oversee the renovation and preservation of the building organized in 2014.
The idea of moving City Hall, and possibly also the Board of Education, there is very preliminary, Mills said.
In the meantime phase one, which is transforming the theater and first floor into a cultural arts center, is moving along, Mills said.
Last year, the City Council approved $400,000 to come up with a design and to find out how much it will cost to transform Memorial Boulevard School into a cultural arts center. The task force estimates the cost as $10 to $12 million to renovate the building’s theater.
“I think the big word here is ‘vision,’” Mills said. “What do we want for the community.”
Jodi Zils Gagne, a fellow building committee member, said the goal is to invest in downtown.
“Memorial Boulevard is an icon for the city, and if moving City Hall there is the best solution let’s push for this, but we have to find out the numbers first,” she said.
“How much do we want to invest in our future 10 years from now, 20 years from now?” she continued. “That’s what’s going to be important. It’s not just the money outlay now.”
“That’s why so much time and effort has gone into planning the theater over there,” Mills agreed. “If that’s going to become the destination that we think it can be, to attract lots of people to town, isn’t that what you want to do?” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Stalled West Haven High School project gets new life
WEST HAVEN >> The city is working to get the stalled “renovate-as-new” West Haven High School reconstruction project back off the ground, preparing to interview replacement construction managers to oversee what officials now envision as a $100 million to $110 million job, officials say.
The goal is to break ground in June 2017, Mayor Ed O’Brien said Thursday.“I feel positive” about the likelihood of moving forward, said Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro. “For the first time in a long time ... everybody seems to want it to happen and understand the need for it.” Turner Construction Co. is out as construction manager after informing the city that it would need to renegotiate its $6 million contract, said city Director of Finance Kevin McNabola. Turner, which had been paid about $354,442 for work to date, suggested the city might want to seek another manager after informing city and school officials that in order to remain and continue overseeing the job, it would need to receive $11.5 million, McNabola said.
In its previous incarnation, the high school project, which has been delayed for several years, had ballooned to about $145 million. That caused concern among officials for the state, which is reimbursing the city for just over 75 percent of the cost, he said. One reason for the price escalation is because the project has languished for so long, McNabola said. “You’ve got to keep the taxpayers in mind when you’re building a school like this,” he said. “It has to be affordable.” Part of the reason why the project is moving forward “is, the state kind of intervened,” McNabola said. “The progress was kind of stalling, so they wanted to sort of help it along.”The city and the West Haven High School Building Committee issued a request for qualifications/proposals for a new construction manager and held a mandatory walk-through for potential bidders on Aug. 26, McNabola said. The walk-through was well-attended, with officials from eight different companies expressing interest, said McNabola. The goal is to choose a manager by Oct. 15, according to the RFQ/RFP.O’Brien said the city hopes to begin demolition and site work in June, then begin full construction of new buildings in January 2018. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Southbury bridge closed
SOUTHBURY – Drivers entering both ends of Oak Tree Road encounter “road closed” signs, orange cones and concrete barriers, where the culvert takes traffic over Bullet Hill Brook.
On Thursday night, Public Works Director John F. Cottell Jr. told the Board of Selectmen that a state inspector said to shut down the bridge for safety reasons.
Cottell closed it last Friday and on Thursday afternoon he met with contractor, George Stone, and engineer, Charles Spath, at the site to see what needs to be done.
“Sorry to bring bad news off the bat,” said Cottell, who was recently hired.
He said the culvert was inspected last May, then an engineer for the Connecticut Department of Transportation made another site visit on Aug. 18.
“This whole area dropped down,” Cottell said, using a laser pointer to show the deterioration under the bridge deck from a photo displayed on the screen in front of the room.
He also showed cracking and exposed rebar.
Some selectmen wondered how there could be so much deterioration between May and August without any major storms, and Cottell said the state’s engineer was also shocked by it.
Cottell said he met with engineers and contractors, including a firm that has done culvert projects in Watertown and Berlin, where the average cost was $400,000.
Cottell said Southbury installed a new box culvert on Scout Road by itself a few years ago for around $200,000.
The town could be eligible for 50 percent reimbursement under the state Small Bridges Program, according to Cottell.
“This is such a critical bridge, it will more than likely be accepted by this program,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE