Activity Increases At 5/6 School Site

By Tanjua Damon

Construction on Wasserman Way and Trades Lane looks more and more like a school each day. The level of activity at the site has increased.

Tim Alix of Strategic Building Solutions who is overseeing the project for the town told the Board of Education Tuesday night that the $28.6 million project is still on schedule and budget.

“There’s been a lot of different activity. Masonry work has picked up again. One classroom wing masonry work is completed and the other is 50 percent done,” Mr Alix said. “Now the focus will be on buttoning up the building, getting windows in, and continuing with the internal systems. There is a significant amount of work getting complete.”

Plantings in the courtyard should take place in the near future as well as the ballfields and the paving of the parking lots according to Mr Alix. By August the furniture and technology bids should be ready to go out and by September the district should know where they stand in regards to the two.

Haynes Construction is contractually obligated to complete the project by December 1; otherwise, they will have to pay a $3,000 per day fine. Two delay claims have been submitted, but have not been accepted and are continuing to be researched, according to Mr Alix.

“Some areas are ahead and some areas are behind,” Mr Alix said. “But Haynes is confident it will be finished on time.”

About half of the $1.5 million contingency has been allocated at this point in the project.

“We’re being cautious of what we chose to do,” Mr Alix said. “We are in a mode of must items.”

Seventy percent of the project is complete, according to contractor billings. This percentage includes materials that have been delivered as well as stored or fabricated, according to Mr Alix. Construction crews are working in a counterclockwise sequence to finish the gym and cafetorium first, then the two classroom wings and finally the media center.

“Everything is moving along,” Mr Alix said.

The school is projected to open in January to be the new home to the district’s fifth and sixth graders. The school is being built to house 1,100 students and will probably open with approximately 840 students.