Bristol Hospital picks developer for Centre Square
BRISTOL — Bristol Hospital’s developer for the Centre Square ambulatory care center is Rendina Healthcare Real Estate, a Florida-based builder who specializes in healthcare facilities, hospital officials announced Wednesday.
The company, based in Jupiter, Fla., beat out four finalists for the job of building the physicians’ offices and ambulatory care center on about four acres of land in the heart of downtown, said Tiffany Fernandez, administrator of Ambulatory Development Services for the hospital.
“We see them as a great partner for the downtown project,” Fernandez said Wednesday. “It was important they’d be able to meet the financing, understand the culture of the hospital, and know what is needed for a thriving urban area, for the city.”
Eight firms vying for the job received a 250-page document in early June detailing the specifications hospital officials want for the site, Fernandez said.
Rendina’s website shows many different kinds of buildings throughout the country, but all essentially with the same purpose of ambulatory care and offices.
“We’re fortunate that we have other clients in northeast,” said Steve Barry, Rendina executive vice president for Business Development & Leasing, who added he has a warm coat and gloves and is ready to come up next month to work. “We understand their vision and want to help them, build an ambulatory care center, help revitalize downtown and meet patient needs. We’re going to have a nice set of gold shovels to put in the ground.”
The exact date of the groundbreaking is dependent, first on the transfer of the property to the city. The hospital has a Letter of Intent to buy the property, which expires Feb. 28. Then the hospital has to go through the permitting process for development of the parcel.
Barry said he and the company followed the Centre Square study conducted by architectural engineers, Milone & MacBroom this past spring and summer. That company polled residents to find out specifically what kind of buildings, landscaping and features residents and workers want in the 17-acre site.
“We followed that news with great interest and do have some ideas,” Barry said. “But it’s pretty early at this point. We want a project that reflects their vision and the polling of residents will be incorporated in our process.”
Costs are not yet being discussed, as the purchase price for the property isn’t even firm, Fernandez said.
While the purchase is not yet complete, “between now and Feb. 28, we’ll be continuing to sit and meet with the hospital, get a clearer picture on the design parameters and requirements,” Barry said. “We want to better understand the way their physicians work and prepare for the process.”
Rendina will handle everything from the building to landscaping, Barry added. Construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Tribes Present Proposal For Casino On Tobacco Fields In Windsor Locks
Tribal leaders seeking to open a third casino in Connecticut focused mainly on dormant tobacco fields off Route 20 in a presentation at Windsor High School Thursday night.
A casino at Bradley International Airport, which the joint tribal venture identified as a possible casino site last week, was not mentioned.
Residents were mainly in favor of the development, but only if the tribes could promise jobs to Windsor Locks residents and major improvements to roads and schools.
"Current road conditions in town are in rough shape," Robert Shepard said. "Would you have a plan to partner with the town to improve those roads?"
Representatives from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan joint venture known as MMCT said they were negotiating with Windsor Locks officials about how much aid they would provide the town if it was selected for the casino site.
"What we will do is enter in negotiations with the town to see what, other than property taxes, we can do for Windsor Locks," Mohegan Tribal Authority Chairman Kevin Brown said. The tribes, which formed the joint venture to pursue a Hartford-area casino, are now considering just two towns — Windsor Locks and East Windsor. In Windsor Locks 76 acres of vacant tobacco fields along Route 20 are being considered, while a former Showcase Cinemas site is the contender in East Windsor.
A satellite casino in north-central Connecticut is being pushed as part of a strategy to compete with a $950 million casino and entertainment complex under construction in Springfield.
The idea is to retain jobs in Connecticut tied to the gambling industry and preserve funds the state gets monthly from slot revenue at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.
Brown said the development would help close Connecticut's $1.2 billion budget deficit by creating $77.9 million in tax revenue and more than 6,500 local jobs.
Any site and the expansion of casino gambling off tribal lands in Connecticut will need approval from the legislature.
Windsor Locks has said it will hold a referendum on the project, while East Windsor has said it does not need to in order to approve the development.
For residents, the main question was what they would get out of a casino in Windsor Locks.
"Is there any extra compensation for Windsor Locks?" Mike Forschino asked.
Residents were told that the tribes would provide for any extra police staffing needs as well as infrastructure improvements and traffic control. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Farmington High School Project Designs To Be Revised
The timeline for multimillion-dollar renovations at Farmington High School has been delayed to allow architects time to devise scaled-back, less expensive proposals.
The Farmington High School Building Committee on Wednesday tasked New Britain architectural firm Kaestle Boos Associates with revising three existing concept designs for the high school project.
The initial cost estimates attached to each concept were roughly in the same price range, committee Chairman William Wadsworth said.
"We felt that we needed to take another look and try and separate those costs, so there is more of a choice between additions, renovations and a new building," Wadsworth said. Wadsworth said a final proposal will not be ready for the ballot in April's budget referendum. Instead, the committee will aim to have a plan prepared for a special referendum in June.
The least-expensive design — estimated to cost $138 million to $150 million — would retain the largest percentage of the current school and repurpose existing space.
The mid-range priced proposal costing $150 million to $161 million that would have involved additions and renovations to the school was removed from consideration.
That proposal would have come close to constructing an entirely new building and school officials said that would have been too disruptive to students.
The most expansive design, with an estimated cost of $169 million, was a new school located on the natural grass fields behind the current building. However, that plan was scrapped in favor of constructing a new building closer to the existing school.
Wadsworth said an adjusted timeline was presented and, regardless of which design is chosen, construction would likely be complete by summer 2022.
The high school was built in 1928 and has had five expansions from 1952 to 2003.
All concept plans would leave the original 1928 portion of the building intact and keep it for either part of the school or for town offices. The plans would also expand the school's athletic fields and make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$2 million donation to cover Derby High School fieldhouse, baseball field
DERBY >> The Board of Education announced Thursday that a private donor, whose father was a 1915 graduate of Derby High School, is donating $2 million for construction of a new fieldhouse and baseball field, which school officials are calling a real “game changer.”
Superintendent of Schools Matthew Conway said the donation from Joan A. Payden is being made in memory of her father J.R. (Joseph Raymond) Payden. J.R. Payden, born in 1896, grew up in Derby and was valedictorian of the class of 1915. He graduated from the Yale University Sheffield Scientific School of Engineering and later served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Aviation Division as a fighter pilot for the Royal Flying Corps in England. Conway said the gift is earmarked for construction of a new, state-of-the-art fieldhouse at the Leo F. Ryan Athletic Complex and a new high school baseball field. The donation comes at a time when a $2.9 million renovation to the athletic complex is being planned. The state Bond Commission approved the funds last year. The district originally applied for $5 million, but had to cut $1.8 million, which scrapped the fieldhouse and contingencies The existing baseball field, which isn’t regulation size, is located at Ryan Field. School officials said it has to be relocated to make way for the makeover which will feature an artificial turf, multi-purpose field, eight-lane rubberized track and other improvements. A Baseball Field Relocation Committee was and is entertaining relocating the field to Bradley School or Witek Park. A forum last October drew a huge crowd in support of moving the field to Bradley School. The committee has since met several times and has been weighing the pros and cons of each location.
Now, however, with the sizeable donation, Conway said it’s possible the baseball field could be done right at its current home.The committee has lots of work to do, and no decision has been made about the field’s future location.No matter the case, city officials assured coaches worried their sports programs may get displaced that things will work out.“No program is going to be hurt by this. ... I will not allow our kids to suffer,” said Aldermanic President Carmen DiCenso, a committee member. Committee member Anthony DeFala, Derby’s director of Public Works, echoed similar sentiments. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE