State Pier Costs Continue Upward as Port Authority Officials Race to Meet March Timeline
HARTFORD – As the cost to redevelop the New London
State Pier continues to escalate, lawmakers are being asked to approve another
$20 million in bonding to fund the project – which now carries a price tag
of $255.5
million.
Hailed in 2019 as a $93
million project to redevelop the pier into a hub for offshore wind
construction – with the offshore wind partnership of Eversource and Ørsted
paying $57.5 million of the cost – the state’s investment now stands at $160.5
million, and the State Bond Commission will decide Thursday whether to approve
another $20 million in funding.
The cost of the project has increased repeatedly since it
was first announced in 2019 – jumping to $157 million after a redesign to
accommodate the Cross Sound Ferry, then to $235.5
million as officials said the design was completed. The cost of the
project was most recently estimated in March at about $250 million – an
increase blamed on permitting
delays that sped up the construction timeline.
Asked what caused the increase to $255.5 million, and if that
was the guaranteed maximum price of the project, Connecticut Port Authority
spokesman Andrew Lavigne said the Authority’s board would be discussing the
price at its meeting at noon on Tuesday.
State Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, the lone lawmaker of
the Bond Commission who represents a part of southeastern Connecticut, said she
was concerned that the price continued to increase after she was assured there
would be no need for additional funding.
When the Bond Commission approved an additional $55 million
for the project last April, Cheeseman
pushed then-Office of Policy and Management Deputy Secretary Kosta
Diamantis to say that $235.5 million was the “actual figure” for the project –
which Cheeseman said she understood to mean the cost would not go any higher.
Cheeseman said she has not heard an explanation behind this
request for $20 million in additional funding, and said she was interested to
hear the reasoning from Gov. Ned Lamont and his staff at the Bond Commission
meeting on Thursday.
“I find this very worrying,” Cheeseman said. “I understand
there are supply chain problems, but to receive repeated assurances that there
will be no need for additional funds, and to have that not be the case, I don’t
think it shows good stewardship, good oversight.”
Cheeseman said she understood that Eversource and Ørsted
might not want to contribute more than they originally agreed to, but she said
that could have been a conversation to have considering the companies have been
“fairly flexible” in working with the Port Authority on the project.
She noted that the companies did not pull back any of their
contribution to the project, even though they could
have withdrawn their support as permits were delayed last year.
But she said the project seemed to be an “ideal use” for
federal infrastructure funding, and that U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer
Granholm’s visit to the State Pier on Friday highlighted the commitment of
President Joe Biden’s administration to offshore wind.
“I know there are very strict guidelines from the Treasury on
what the infrastructure funding can be used for,” Cheeseman said. “On the other
hand, I would have thought [Granholm’s visit] was an excellent argument for
demonstrating the federal government’s commitment to this kind of project, and
perhaps a favorable view of using infrastructure money for just that purpose.”
Lavigne said the Port Authority applied for federal funds
for the project in 2020 when Donald Trump was president, and was denied. He
said that the current administration is more supportive of offshore wind, so
the project might be more competitive for federal funding now, but the
authority can’t wait for federal funding if State Pier is to be ready as a
staging area for Eversource and Ørsted’s South Fork Wind Project in March 2023.
Torrington school project partnership ready to start building
TORRINGTON — Architects of the new middle and high school
building project, approved by voters in 2020, are nearly ready to begin a
three-year presence on Besse Drive this summer.
The S/L/A/M Collaborative, architect, working in partnership
with city and Torrington Public Schools officials, Construction Solutions Group
of East Hartford, and construction manager Torrington-based O&G Industries,
said they expect to begin construction in October. But there’s a lot to do
before the first shovel hits dirt.
Amy Samuelson, principle architect with SLAM, has been
involved with the project’s development since her firm was hired in 2021. “It’s
going to transform how the city educates its young people,” she said.
SLAM designers have worked with the public school district,
the Board of Education and the school building committee throughout the design
phase to ensure the learning environments and configuration of the new school
will reflect the needs and expectations of the Torrington community. Designers
also included some of the city’s industrial past as they planned the building.
The project originally was approved by voters in November
2020 for $159 million. In January 2022, voters
approved adding an additional $20 million to the project. School
building committee Co-Chairmen Mario Longobucco and Ed Arum came to the City
Council in December 2021 asking for approval to add the $20 million, citing
increased enrollment and rising costs for construction and materials.
The biggest challenge for SLAM, Samuelson said, was to
design a 310,000-square-foot building that prioritized and balanced the
district’s existing educational programs with the latest trends and innovation.
“For example, we’re providing an engineering lab, which is
meant to complement what they already have,” she said. “Balancing new
technology with what’s already there has always been a big part of this plan,
while keeping reimbursement in mind. It’s always a balance.”
Another challenge, she said, is managing the project “to
have room for a real, transformative design while keeping the old school up and
running.”
“Right away this summer, people are going to see how we’re
separating the construction zone from the high school, which will still be
open, of course,” Samuelson said. “We’re rerouting traffic away from the buses,
because we’re adding another layer of vehicles and traffic to the site. This
summer, we’ll set it all up so when the students start school in the fall,
they’ll be safe.”
The other big hurdle for SLAM and its partners is moving the
middle school students to the new building once it’s completed.
“We had to keep in mind additional parking for middle school
staff and faculty, and more room for their athletic fields,” Samuelson said.
“The high and middle school students will share some of the fields, but we’ve
been able to site additional fields on the property, once the old building is
demolished.
“But it’s still a challenge, because we have to fit more
than what was originally there,” she said. “So it’s not like other places,
where we replace a building in kind. Its much larger.”
The combined middle-high school building will be constructed
on the existing campus on the 31-acre Besse Drive property. The old building
will stay open during construction and eventually will be razed.
“It will be up to the school district, and the middle school
administration, to decide when the middle school students move in,” Samuelson
said. “The high school will have to move out, but the middle school students
are in their current building and it’s working fine for them. They might move
the middle school in August 2025.”
Preparation of the area is expected this summer, including
relocating utilities, and construction is scheduled to begin in October, with
an opening date of February 2025, SLAM officials said. Demolition of the old
building and construction of the new gym and athletic fields will begin in
March 2025, with a planned completion date of January 2026, they said.
According to SLAM, the building has been designed with
separate entrances and wings for a three-story middle school and a four-story
high school. Those wings will be connected by shared facilities on the main
floor — an auditorium and performance stage, two separate dining rooms, two
gyms and support spaces for student athletes.
The middle school, according to SLAM, will have two STEM
classrooms and a computer coding lab. Classrooms for grades 7-8 and some
administrative spaces and support service offices will be on the two upper
floors.
Torrington High School has a career pathways program that
provides hands-on training opportunities for education, health and wellness,
business, military/JROTC and STEM/technology. The project design includes
additions to that program such as a culinary lab, health classrooms and a
sports medicine-athletic trainer room. In addition, the school will include
various new learning areas for special education students.
Other program improvements in the new building are an
automotive shop, construction technology lab and an engineering lab; a 480-seat
auditorium with a courtyard; a band room for up to 125 people for high and
middle school students, and orchestra, chorus and music technology spaces; as
well as video production, art and ceramics labs.
“The industrial and performing arts culture of Torrington
was an inspiration for our design,” said Julija Singer, AIA, design principal,
SLAM. “We enjoyed working with the community and sharing their passion for
designing spaces for students where exploration, openness, and creativity will
flourish. The new building is a place that offers that and much more.”
Central administration offices will be located on the fourth
floor of the high school wing and will have a separate entrance. Those offices
now are housed in a building on Migeon Avenue.
SLAM Communications Director Marie Bonelli sees the new high
school as a landmark for the city.
“It will be like a flagship,” she said. “I think people will
have a sense of pride in it.”
Samuelson said she is confident about the timeline
established by SLAM and O&G Industries. “O&G controls the construction
schedule, and I think it’s accurate to assume that a building of that size can
go up in 30 months,” she said. “When we say ready for occupancy in February 2025,
that’s when the high-schoolers will move into their new building, and then
they’ll tear down the old one.”
Factors including the economy, supply line challenges and
the rising cost of living all will play a part in the project.
“We’re hoping for a crystal ball, but we don’t have one,”
Samuelson said. “The economy is unpredictable right now. ... We’re designing,
and keeping tabs on everything. We’re hoping for the best.”
Officials: Norwalk Hospital plans $250M expansion, but hasn’t yet submitted zoning application
NORWALK — Norwalk Hospital has announced the facility’s
largest expansion ever — worth more than $200 million — but has not yet
submitted its plans to the city’s zoning department, officials said.
Last summer, Nuvance Health, which owns and operates Norwalk
Hospital, announced
plans for a $220 million expansion of the hospital, with an emphasis
on the facility’s maternity services.
This month, a New
Canaan couple donated an additional $20 million to the project. The
total estimated cost of the project is about $250 million, according to a
hospital statement.
To construct the seven-floor, 188,000-square-foot addition,
the hospital plans to demolish the Tracey and community pavilions, which were
constructed in 1918 and 1953. The new pavilion will be located at the southeast
corner of the hospital campus.
With hundreds of millions invested and plans for the new
facility to open within four years, Nuvance has yet to apply with the city’s
Planning and Zoning Commission to acquire permission for construction to
commence.
Norwalk Hospital spokesperson Amy Forni confirmed that while
hospital administrators have met with city officials, the application hasn’t
been submitted.
“Our planning, design and construction team has met with all
the city departments to review the plans,” Forni said. “They will be submitting
final construction plans for final review and approval.”
The hospital staff met with at least six departments and
agencies from the city to discuss the project, Forni said.
“As with any other large project, we have had preliminary
discussions with public works, fire, zoning, water department, WPCA and TMP to
gather information, so the project, applications, plans and reports meet or
exceed various standards,” Forni said. “This project will be thoroughly vetted
by these departments and others, and by the Planning & Zoning Commission,
once a formal submission has been made.”
Forni did not specify when the hospital intends to submit
the project plans.
The new building is anticipated to open in winter 2025,
according to the project announcement.
As of last week, no project proposed for Norwalk Hospital
was listed on the Zoning Department’s database of approved and pending
developments.
Norwalk spokesperson Michelle Woods Matthews said a meeting
between city officials and hospital representatives occurred four months ago.
Woods Matthews was also unaware of when Nuvance plans to submit the hospital
expansion application.
“Staff members of the city met with members of the Norwalk
Hospital, including Peter Cordeau, president of Norwalk Hospital, in early
February for an update on the timing and plans,” Woods Matthews said. “Norwalk
Hospital let the city know they would be submitting something to Zoning
shortly. We're unsure of when the hospital plans to submit the zoning
application materials, but expect it in the near future.”
Woods Matthews said the city is looking forward to the
Norwalk Hospital expansion.
“We are supportive of having a world-class medical facility
in Norwalk and are excited to see what they propose,” she said.
Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven, New Britain and 41
additional “historically underserved” communities in Connecticut can now apply
to an $875 million state grant pool for community investments.
The taxpayer-funded “Community Investment Fund 2030” could
help eligible municipalities and their economic development agencies pay for
infrastructure upgrades, brownfield remediation, public facilities, new
affordable housing and small business assistance programs.
Application materials are available now and are due by July
25 for a first round of funding that will distribute up to $75 million. The
investments – to be paid through future state bonding – must win approval from
a 21-member review board, then the governor and, ultimately, the state Bond
Commission.
“Our administration is continuing to make historic
investments in improving the economic vibrancy of our neighborhoods, with a
focus on helping those that have been historically underserved gain access to
good-paying jobs and benefits,” Gov. Ned Lamont said through a release. “The
Community Investment Fund 2030 is another way that we are encouraging impactful
development and small business support for areas of Connecticut that have been
left behind for too long.”
The minimum grant request is $250,000. There is no upper
limit.
Thomas Hyde, CEO of the Naugatuck Valley Regional
Development Corp., said the fund is exciting because it offers the prospect of
getting enough money to finish a brownfield cleanup through a single round of
funding and work.
Traditional state brownfield grants provide up to $2
million, often not enough to clean up massive industrial sites in Waterbury
that were abandoned by metals manufacturers decades ago.
That has left Waterbury to clean as far as eligible moneys
allow on some sites, then halt to wait for more funding.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said her community will apply
any grants received toward transforming its most needy neighborhoods. Her
administration is eager to learn more about the process.
“The influx of opportunities for funding quality of life
projects for Connecticut’s municipalities could be transformative for our
future,” Stewart said.
The fund will be administered by the state Department of
Economic and Community Development and overseen by a 21-member board co-chaired
by House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) and Sen. President Pro Tempore Martin
Looney (D-New Haven).
“These capital funds will be critically important for
projects, especially in urban areas that have infrastructure needs that haven’t
been adequately met for some time,” Looney said. “They’ll also be a benefit to
nonprofits and municipalities.”
Ritter described the eight-year grant program as “a major
priority.”
“This funding can be a driver of transformational economic
change and growth in communities across Connecticut,” Ritter said.
In addition to promoting economic or community development,
projects must be designed to further consistent, fair, impartial treatment of
all individuals, including those belonging to underserved and marginalized
communities, including people of color, religious minorities, rural residents,
members of the LGBTQ+ community and people impacted by poverty and inequality.
Additional information and application materials can be
found at portal.ct.gov/communityinvestmentfund.