Heading Into The New Year, District Still Awaits NHS Expansion Opening

By Eliza Hallabeck

If the Newtown High School expansion and renovation project went from root to sprout in 2009, then its branches really took shape in 2010. But as the new year begins this weekend, the school district is still waiting for the doors to open on the completed project.

Since breaking ground in May 2009, the expansion and renovation project slowly took shape in the back parking lot of the school. By the end of 2009 the structure was taking shape, with most of the viewable work slated to be put in place over the summer of 2010.

During the Board of Education’s February 4 meeting, the architectural firm overseeing the project, Fletcher Thompson, was ready to present options to replace the NHS greenhouse, which was rendered unusable after being moved during the expansion project. Fletcher Thompson representative Joe Costa said the value of the structure was determined to be between $30,000 to $50,000, and that amount would be covered by the contractor for the destruction of the greenhouse. Overall, he told the school board, the new greenhouse was expected to cost $130,000 to $150,000.

By May, while Newtown’s 2010-2011 budget deliberations came to a close, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson told the school board the project was expected to be roughly two weeks behind schedule due to an accident in delivery of a heating and cooling unit. She also said during the meeting the new roof for the school’s renovated gymnasium was slated to arrive in June. At that point, she said, the contractor was working weekends and other times to make sure everything was completed.

By June, the expansion was taking shape. Over the summer the project transformed from a construction site to a building seemingly ready for learning, as Principal Charles Dumais explained to The Bee during a tour of the site at the start of July.

At that point the timeline for the project was still about two weeks behind schedule, but Mr Dumais said the project was still expected by officials to be ready by September 1 for student use.

“Since the walls have gone up, you can start to see how things will look,” said Mr Dumais on the second floor of the expansion during the tour.

The new additions, according to Mr Dumais, include 20 classrooms, five science labs, a new child development area, a cafeteria, kitchen areas, computer labs, and renovations to the gym.

The new cafeteria was nearly complete at the time, he said, adding that when open, the school’s lunch period would be altered to reflect the new dining option at the school.

“There were previously four lunch waves,” Mr Dumais said, “but with the new cafeteria, there will be three lunch waves and we will be able to accommodate students easier.”

The renovation portion of the project, which cannot begin until the expansion is completed, was still slated for completion in January 2011 at the time of the tour.

Mr Dumais continued to photograph the construction site over the summer at his blog, http://dumais.us/newtown/blog/, and shared his favorite photos from 2010 with The Bee. A slideshow of his photographs is available at www.newtownbee.com.

By early August Mr Dumais announced the expansion would not be completed in time for student use in September, and Dr Robinson said it was uncertain whether the overall timeframe for the project would be completed as expected. On August 11, Mr Dumais said an alternative plan would be used once school began for the 2010-2011 academic year at NHS.

Just six days later, on August 17, Mr Dumais presented the expected pushed back occupancy deadline of October or November to the school board during its regular meeting. As had been planned from the start, Mr Dumais said the students would be transitioned into the expansion as seamlessly as possible during the school year, once the expansion was available for use.

One major obstacle, he said, was Stair 4, which was slated to expand in the expansion process. Mr Dumais said both the state fire marshal and the town fire marshal have inspected the site, and said if the stairwell is not finished by September 1, students would not be able to enter the building.

In other news, the driveway work was underway, and Mr Dumais said parking should be available by the start of the school year. In the end, the driveway was completed in time for start of school, with the pavement going in just the week before.

Greenhouse Issues

The school board affirmed its need to construct a new greenhouse classroom in place of a former facility at its September 7 meeting. The board concluded that although the low bid of $447,000 seemed excessive, the facility was part of the education specifications or ed specs that were already approved as part determining the overall reimbursement to the town from the state.

“There’s money in the contingency fund to pay for this,” said school board member David Nanavaty, adding that the replacement of its unusable predecessor clearly qualified under the contingency as an “unexpected occurrence.”

“It’s part of the ed specs so it has to be done,” Mr Nanavaty said. “It’s not like we’re asking for more money.”

Saying that the new facility was going to have equivalent status as the high school’s science labs and culinary arts facility, Mr Nanavaty also reminded the board that since the greenhouse was slated for partial state reimbursement, and that he was hoping to negotiate an increase in the district’s credit against the old building from Morganti Construction, the end cost to taxpayers could be as low as $275,000.

One week earlier, members of the Public Building and Site Commission, the Legislative Council, and even the town’s building inspector expressed dismay over the news that a replacement greenhouse at Newtown High School was estimated to cost $400,000.

By September 17, the gym’s new roof was coming together. At that point the project was still expected to be complete in November, with work on the renovation portion of the project to be worked on through the winter of 2011.

At the Public Building and Site Commission meeting on September 28, Morganti Construction representative Mark Schweitzer and Fletcher Thompson Inc representative Matt Holst reported on continuing work on the NHS expansion and renovation.

According to Mr Schweitzer, the building’s addition was still on schedule for the revised finish date of November 22, as Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson and NHS Principal Charles Dumais had also reported in the prior couple weeks. Mr Schweitzer said November 2 is the new planned date for temporary occupancy, which would give the school roughly three weeks with the space before students start classes in the area.

Detail work in the expansion was starting to come together, Mr Schweitzer reported. On the first and second floors the ceilings are padded or are expected for completion by the end of the week, along with tile on the new lobby floor.

Mr Schweitzer estimated the addition was about 75 percent complete.

Impact On Athletics

While work on the building was reported as on schedule, Mr Schweitzer said there was a holdup concerning the new track at the school. Turf for the NHS field was down, but, according to Mr Schweitzer, two different sealers were needed for the track.

“The issue came up a few weeks ago to add this extra step to the process,” said Mr Schweitzer. Until then, Mr Schweitzer said, only one sealer was expected to be needed.

He did not report an exact date for the completion of the field, but said the fully cured field should be done by the end of October.

Work on the school ‘s gymnasium was also continuing at the time.

The delay on the project also prolonged the period of displacement for NHS athletes as the gymnasium and stadium work was underway. When Newtown High School Principal Charles Dumais learned on October 13 that the NHS track and playing field at Blue and Gold Stadium would not be usable until roughly November 5, the information added another piece to a scheduling puzzle that existed since the NHS expansion and renovation project broke ground in May 2009.

Since the project’s start, as Athletic Director Gregg Simon said, people had been opening doors to accommodate Newtown’s high school athletes, and he holds much appreciation for this.

On October 20, Mr Dumais urged all reading his most recent blog update to, “Keep your eye on the prize,” because, at that point, the move-in date for the expansion was uncertain.

“The current completion dates for the gymnasium and the stadium are unchanged. We do not know when the addition will be ready for us to move us,” he said.

By November establishing a date for the move into the expansion was put on hold. Mr Dumais announced at the end of November that Newtown officials were waiting for The Morganti Group to name a completion date.

“Once again, we sincerely thank you for your overwhelming patience and cooperation during this inconvenient and disruptive transition in the life of Newtown High School,” Mr Dumais said at the time.

There was still no date for a move into the expansion by December 10. Since the previous Sunday, alarm system glitches put the move-in date for the Newtown High School expansion on hold.

Nearing The End

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead reported on December 8, however, the expansion was cleared of all fire alarm issues by 10:45 am. Just the night before, at the Board of Education’s December 7 meeting, the glitches were still an impediment to the expansion’s opening.

Board of Education Chairman William Hart said when he attended the expansion and renovation project owner’s meeting on December 2, he noticed things like chairs and computer cables still needed to be set up in the high school addition. The floors also needed to be rewaxed, he said.

Mr Nanavaty also reminded the school board during the meeting that once the certificate of occupancy is gained, there are other items on the punch list that will need attention, like sinks that drain the wrong way and gas cook tops that may or may not need venting.

“These are small punch list items that I think impact learning and education more than if we were waiting for caulk on a stone wall, or that sort of thing,” said Mr Nanavaty.

Dr Robinson said Mr Dumais is working to keep the issue in front of construction firm The Morganti Group.

By the end of December Mr Dumais and school board members had their hopes set on mid-January for a move into the expansion.

Mr Dumais was focusing on January 8 as the date to move larger items, and is hopeful teachers will have the opportunity to start moving smaller items into the expansion as early as this week.

“We’re excited to finally move,” said Mr Dumais. “And it is important that we move before the half-year mark.”

After a walk through the expansion on December 16, Mr Hart said work still remained, noting, “There is still a list of things that need to be done that prohibit using the space.”

Items left to be finished, Mr Hart explained, include exhaust hoods in the new culinary space that vent air the wrong way, and technology issues that need to be corrected before the school can open. Technology issues include desks in the teachers’ offices that are not yet connected to electricity or data use, according to Mr Dumais.

The expansion’s servery and the school’s new cafeteria, which will run in conjunction with the existing cafeteria, need to be running before students can use the expansion due to regulations, according to Mr Hart. Students attending classes in the expansion are too far away from the school’s existing cafeteria, he said, and Chartwells, Newtown’s food service provider, needs the space for about one week before students can use the servery.

As the expansion nears the move-in date, Mr Hart said it appears to always be the “other guy’s problem,” but, regardless, he continued, the items need to be fixed.

“Everybody is working to get this done,” said Mr Hart.

On Tuesday, December 21, Public Building and Site Commission members told The Morganti Group if work on items is not expected to be complete by January 8, the commission wants to know as soon as possible.