Newtown’s Public Building and Site Commission met November 24 and received updates on a number of ongoing projects. The volunteer board that manages most local municipal and school building projects heard reports on the Edmond Town Hall boiler replacement, the Newtown High School auditorium renovation, and Sandy Hook Elementary School construction.

Kent McCoy of Smith Edwards McCoy Architects, who is heading up the auditorium renovation, presented the commission with a schematic package and reported that a three-dimensional model of the project was just completed.

Mr McCoy told commissioners that in his estimation, the timeline for work is rolling out and he believes completion of the job will be on schedule. He said soft demolition aspects of the project will begin on or about March 28, with construction commencing on July 5.

When asked about the most involved aspects of the project, Mr McCoy responded immediately that the accessibility and acoustic aspects were the most challenging, and would yield the most sweeping results.

“Structurally, the building is sound,” he said, adding that the existing auditorium roof is well constructed and would easily bear the load of HVAC system components that would be relocated there as part of the project. Mr McCoy said a reengineering of the ceiling, leveling out of the floor, and other design aspects would give the room “a much cleaner, richer sound.”

Director of Music Michelle Hiscavich was in attendance, and told the commission that she, Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, and all the other school staff who are involved with maintaining or utilizing the auditorium and adjacent performing arts and music space were engaged with the design process.

Ms Hiscavich referenced a new “barn door” masking system that is due to be installed, that would have given the school’s fall production The Great Gatsby an entirely different and more intimate feel.

The mechanical masking panels can be closed to create a small “black box” staging effect for smaller productions or presentations — while larger musical or theatrical acts could simply retract the panels to open up the entire stage for use.

Another aspect of the project both Mr McCoy and Ms Hiscavich promoted is a physical addition between the school’s music department and the stage right wing of auditorium.

Ms Hiscavich said the new space would not only create an interior stage right pass-through from the main school building, but would also provide critically needed storage space, and a location where stage scenery could be constructed, painted, and stored.

PBSC Chairman Robert Mitchell asked Mr McCoy to plan to show the 3D perspective to commissioners on December 15. Ms Hiscavich also requested some updated sketches she could display in the high school lobby during fall/winter performances so visitors could get an idea of the scope of improvements in store.

Project Consultant Geralyn Hoerauf of Diversified Project Management reported that she passed on ten candidates for consideration for the auditorium project’s construction manager, and Mr Mitchell said that list had been pared down to four.

SHES, ETH Projects

Representatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School building team were on hand to update the PBSC on that new building project. Julia McFadden of Svigals + Partners and Aaron Krueger, project manager for Consigli Construction, covered dozens of points from near completion of one of the largest retaining walls on site to intricate elements of sealing exterior window frames.

The major points included that the building is now water tight, and crews hope to have the entire structure enclosed in the coming weeks. One setback, however, involved the completion of site work on Riverside Road.

Mr Krueger said that after waiting and planning for nearly a year, promised relocation of utility poles near the school entrance had not been completed. That means the finished resurfacing of Riverside Road would likely have to wait until spring, with a binder coat of asphalt being applied for the winter months.

On the other hand, several dozen trees that will be part of the overall landscaping are due to be installed in the coming days.

Other complete or near complete elements of the SHES project, according to Mr Krueger and Ms McFadden, include:

*Exterior veneer on the C-Wing is complete

*Window frame installation ongoing

*Field stone veneer in front of building is complete

*Gym painting is complete

*Kitchen equipment is due to be installed after epoxy floor treatment is completed

*Dry wall installation ongoing in B-Wing, with C and D-Wing to follow

*All roofing complete except “tree house” area, which is sealed and weather tight

*Retaining wall caps nearly complete on longest entry wall

In addition, all Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) aspects of the project are under review, Ms McFadden said, and the SHES project is still on track to achieve a Gold LEED rating.

Ms Hoerauf told the commission that the project is also in a good place regarding contingency funding, having approximately $1.4 million remaining in the contingency fund with only about seven months left before planned occupancy.

The PBSC also learned this week that work to replace the Edmond Town Hall boilers is progressing. Project manager Charles Boos, a principal at New Britain-based Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc, said there is still one point of clarification that needs to be made about how drained water from the boiler would be diverted.

Commissioner James Juliano, who is a longtime member of the Town Hall Board of Managers, said he thought the boiler room floor drains fed into a line that dispersed any leaking or discharged water into a swamp area in the rear of the building.

Mr Juliano said that rerouting drainage into the sanitary sewer system would greatly inflate the project cost, and would create other costly implications including the need to remove a 5,000-gallon oil tank on site.

Mr Juliano also requested that specifications for the new boilers be made to accommodate both an all gas-fired unit and a second gas/oil boiler the facility could also use. Mr Juliano said he believes that the cost of oil will eventually become competitive with natural gas, and he wants the facility equipped for either contingency.

Mr Mitchell advised Mr Boos to proceed filing the existing proposal with the town and all necessary commissions involved in the project approval, and any required changes to the scope of the project would be considered at the PBSC meeting December 15.

“I don’t want to slow the project down unless we need to make any substantial change,” Mr Mitchell said.