Windfall grant for state building trades

It was great to see a $389 million grant come from the U.S. Department of Energy to bring more offshore wind power to New England. These funds will not only help to lower costs to ratepayers for future offshore wind projects, but also create good paying jobs in southeast Connecticut, under a proposal now pending before the state. The proposed Vineyard Wind 2 project from developer Vineyard Offshore would make landfall in New London and tie into the New England power grid in Montville, where one of the federally funded transmission upgrades will take place.

Laying the 13-mile onshore cable between the two sites would be a significant, multi-year construction project for up to 150 members of the New London building trades. In its decision, which is expected in September, Connecticut should select Vineyard Wind 2 to ensure these jobs come to our region and move toward the clean, reliable, fixed-rate electric power we need in our state.

Keith R. Brothers

Pomfret

Torrington students to begin school year in old high school, move to new state-of-the-art building in January

SLOAN BREWSTER

TORRINGTON – On Thursday, students will return to school in the old high school and in January, they will move to the new building.

A tour last Wednesday of the high school and middle school construction sites revealed a building on the cusp of completion.

Rooms are painted, bits of furnishings are in, walls have been tiled, lockers line hallways and many classrooms have been given final cleanings.

With most of the big jobs behind them, crews have begun working their way through punch list items, said Building Committee Co-Chair Edward Arum and Superintendent for O&G Industries Brian Pracuta.

While the middle school will not be ready for another year, a hallway off the main entrance will be used temporarily for locker rooms when the high school opens in January.

The cafeterias of the two schools, which are separated by a glass wall, are beginning to look like lunch rooms. Pracuta showed off high end steamers, grills and skillets that cooks will use to prepare meals.

“It’s very nice stuff,” Arum said. “Because, you know, eventually they’re going to serve 1,600 kids.”

Arum said the equipment should be functional by November. Once it’s ready, they plan to test it to make sure it all works by cooking up some chow for the workers.

During Wednesday’s tour, a noticeable transition was apparent in the auditorium, where a scaffolding that was up during past tours was down, exposing the slanted floor where seats are yet to be installed. The stage is scheduled to be painted next week, Pracuta said. After that, riggers will come in to install tracks for the curtain and backdrops.

Meanwhile, walls are scheduled for pre-drywall inspections and field measuring is underway for the seats.

“That’s a science in itself,” Pracuta said, explaining how seats will be various widths and arranged so audience members will have a view of the stage and not someone’s head.

Pracuta pointed to an area of the wall where angled drywall designs called “sails” will help deflect sound and then looked up toward flat white lights called “clouds” covering the ceiling.

“We’ll have clouds up above and we’ll have sails on the walls,” he said.

A food lab on the first floor contained a couple counters and areas for sinks and was beginning to look like a food lab.

Second and third floor science rooms were filled with lab tables, cabinets and counters; and bathrooms, while not yet connected to sewers, looked complete with tiled floors, sinks, mirrors and stalls in place.

The third floor media center was awaiting carpet installation. Walls of windows in the large sunlit room looked over the front entrance and down toward the courtyard, where outdoor movies will one day be shown on a large plaster wall. Down below crews prepared to lay sidewalks and a lone worker made his way to a pay loader.

A career center not quite finished sits down the hallway from the main entrance where a window opens to the office so visitors can be checked-in before they are granted entry.

A third floor hallway looks onto three chillers installed on a rooftop. While all three will likely never run at once, they are necessary for backup, Pracuta said. Two will run when weather neccessatates.

Three heating units will be used in much the same manner, seldom running in tandem but the extras on hand for when temperatures dictate.

Four elevators that will be in the school are yet to be installed and the lower level, which will hold shop classes, is being dry walled.

Ground was officially broken on the project in October 2022.

Initial plans for the 310,000-square foot school, which will house students in grades seven through 12, were to complete the high school portion by December 2024 and bring students in by February 2025. The project, however, is ahead of schedule so students will be let into the high school in January. Middle School students are expected to be let in by September 2025.

The state will reimburse 85% of the $179.58 million cost, with the city responsible for the remaining 15%, Arum said.

Shortly after school closed for summer break in June, part of the music wing at the old high school was knocked down so workers could work in that area. This month they have been constructing a new roadway on Major Besse Drive.

When school opens later this week, the high school music department will use the media center for classes and practices that would have been held in the razed wing, Arum said.

Major Besse Drive will be closed and only accessible for construction traffic until Aug. 27. Public can access the property via Daley Drive behind the school near the athletic fields.

Preston to hold public sessions on Poquetanuck Cove plans

Claire Bessette

Preston – With the Norwich Hospital cleanup nearly complete, Preston is ready to take on its next big project.

The town has secured $3.46 million in state grants thus far, has tentative approval for two additional $4 million grants and applied for $3 million more, all for a project to turn the Route 2A area in Poquetanuck from a speedway to nearby casinos or shoreline spots into an inviting village atmosphere.

The town is ready to launch the first phase of the project from Preston Community Park to Poquetanuck Cove, which includes wide walkways, decorative lighting and crosswalks, traffic calming measures to slow down vehicles, public parking areas and a kayak launch at the cove.

The state funding already secured by the town includes a $3 million Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program grant for construction costs, a $400,000 state Community Investment Fund grant for design and planning and another $60,000 from the Recreation Trails Program to enhance the project.

Phase 1 is expected to go out to bid for construction next year. But first, the town agencies working on the project will hold three public forums next week to hear ideas from the public on what they would like to see included in the project.

The Conservation and Agricultural Commission will lead off with a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at Town Hall, 389 Route 2, for a presentation by town staff on the status of the project and grants. They will take questions and comments from the public.

On Tuesday, the Preston Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. at Town Hall with a presentation by town staff and the project engineer, who also will take questions and comments from residents.

On Wednesday, the Board of Selectmen will meet at 6 p.m. at Town Hall for a third presentation and question-and-answer session.

“The whole thing started because we wanted to slow the traffic,” Town Planner Kathy Warzecha said. “We’ll have extra traffic signs, crosswalks, maybe some beacons, a plaza area at Schoolhouse Road, so drivers will see the different color and pattern and will slow down.”

The decorative walkway from Poquetanuck Village to the cove is designed to be 5 feet wide, while the area from the Grant’s bed and breakfast at 109 Route 2A to Preston Community Park will be 10 feet wide to better accommodate bicycles.

Warzecha said staff will show maps and design plans, give some options of features being considered and hear ideas from the public. Afterward, project officials will finalize the designs and put the project out to bid next year, Warzecha said.

Conservation and Agricultural Commission Chairman Gary Piszczek said his commission’s biggest concern is with protection of Poquetanuck Cove and public access to the cove.

The town has received tentative approval for another $4 million Transportation Alternatives grant that would help extend the village project from the Preston Community Park to Lincoln Park senior housing. The town also has learned it has tentative approval for another $4 million Local Transportation Capital Improvements Program grant to extend the project to the Route 2A-12 intersection. The project would include safety improvements to the busy intersection across from the former Norwich Hospital/Preston Riverwalk and extend the pedestrian trail to the riverwalk.

The town has applied for an additional $3 million Community Investment Fund grant for design and engineering planning for that portion of the project.

The cleanup of the former Norwich Hospital property is nearly completed, and the town anticipates turning over the property to Mohegan, the development arm of the Mohegan tribe, by the end of this year.

Piszczek said the conservation commission hopes to meet with Mohegan officials to discuss ways to protect Poquetanuck Cove amid the future development and to provide public access to the waterfront areas.