CT Construction Digest Monday March 4, 2024
'It’s happening quickly': Griswold water, sewer project to start after $8 million from CT
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz joined local officials Friday to highlight the $8,707,755 recently awarded to the Town of Griswold through the Community Investment Fund.
The money will be used for a municipal water infrastructure project that will support more than 325 acres of commercial land along Route 164 and facilitate the Heritage River Village development, which will consist of affordable and age-restricted housing, new public facilities plus a YMCA and child development center.
“We chose this project because it covers a number of our administration's priorities,” Bysiewicz said Friday. “As I mentioned, affordable and workforce housing, childcare and, also, economic development.”
Bysiewicz said the state has identified eastern Connecticut as a childcare desert.
“We cannot have growth in employment without having more early childhood education spots,” she said.
When will construction begin for the water project
Griswold First Selectman Tina Falck said the new sewer system will be installed in early spring. At the same time, installation of the water line and water tower will go out to bid.
Bids for the water line and tower are expected to be awarded in late April, with construction slated to begin in June or July. Falck hopes construction will be completed by late fall.
“This is happening. It’s happening quickly,” Falck said. “We’re working very hard on it.”
Where the water infrastructure project is going
The project is located at the intersection of Route 164 with Interstate 395.
“This is going to be a real economic driver not just for Griswold, but the whole area,” Bysiewicz said.
Bridgeport tackles cleanup, legal issues at Remington Arms plant
BRIDGEPORT — State Rep. Christopher Rosario looked out over the blighted former Remington Arms ammunition plant and recalled growing up near the landmark Barnum Avenue campus.
"I remember vividly hearing my mom and dad say, 'Don’t go down over there,'" said the East Side Democrat.
The property is still not the kind of place children should frequent, or for that matter anyone other than construction workers wearing the proper clothing and safety equipment. But it is becoming easier to picture a day when it will be clean and ready for redevelopment.
Rosario and other local officials participated in a press conference recently to mark the next phase of demolition of the factory. The initial work following delays began last April in response to a warning by the building department an "imminent danger" of collapse. Now it is time for the remaining five crumbling structures to come down.
First, though, crews will remove the foundations of the previously razed sections of the plant along Helen Street, which, thanks to the wet winter, have become concrete and twisted steel swimming pools ringed by fencing.
"That area is closest to where people live so we want to clear (and) tidy up the site first," explained William Coleman, deputy director of economic development. "This approach will also give the contractor more room to work on the demolition of the rest of the buildings."
It will likely be around 10 months before the property is completely cleared off at, so far, a total cost of $15 million, $5 million of which the city budgeted in 2020, the balance awarded from the state in 2021.
Rosario suspects more dollars might eventually be needed and said he will if necessary be ready to secure additional state aid.
The press conference was organized by Mayor Joe Ganim's administration and took place hours before voters headed to the polls Tuesday in a court-ordered special mayoral election. Ganim's victory in last fall's general election was thrown out by a superior court judge due to allegations of mishandled absentee ballots. The mayor, a Democrat who won Tuesday's do-over election versus Independent candidate John Gomes and Republican David Herz, had been holding various press events this winter to highlight touted progress during his last eight years in office.
Ganim called Remington Arms "a picture of progress, commitment and hard work.”
But it did not start with him. And given how long that progress has taken, may not end while Ganim is in office, depending on whether this new four-year term is his last.
Bridgeport gained control of the property from developer Sal DiNardo in the mid-2010s following a foreclosure fight over back taxes. Bill Finch, a Democrat, was mayor. A subsidiary of DuPont, the last industrial user, in 2000 agreed to assume responsibility for cleaning up any underground soil and water contamination after the city removed the buildings.
How long Dupont's work will take is currently unknown, at least publicly. Ganim's economic development chief, Thomas Gill, said once the city completes its above-ground work and has a better handle on Dupont's timeline, officials here can begin seeking developers. The land is currently zoned for a mix of residential/office/commercial/production uses.
Not every structure is coming down. The city fortified the landmark Remington Arms shot tower for it to be incorporated into any future plans there.
“Its one of a handful in the country. It’s a draw. It's historically significant. It's rare," said Todd Levine, a staffer with the Connecticut Historic Preservation Office by phone last week. That agency for several years has been consulting with Bridgeport on Remington Arms.
And while it was ultimately determined that all the other buildings were beyond salvaging thanks to time, weather, fire and vandalism, at the urging of the state historians the city is also leaving a smokestack with its powerhouse near the tower.
Levine's colleague, Marena Wisniewski, said between the shot tower and the smoke stack, the idea is to give future tenants, visitors and passersby at least a glimpse into the property's past.
"That really takes that corner of the site and really you're able to experience that industrial world," she said. "You're going to be able to get that feeling when the site is redeveloped.”
Besides the demolition and underground environmental cleanup there is another issue the city must address to prepare Remington Arms for its future — a legal battle with DiNardo.
DiNardo has claimed that the city under Finch in December 2013 improperly tore up tracks at the plant that his company, Remgrit, which owns an adjacent parcel, had access to under decades-old agreements. Remgrit has argued in a court filing that the rails were worth at least $1.4 million and wants them replaced.
The matter was initially scheduled to head to trial but since summer, 2023 the parties have been seeking a court-mediated resolution. An update filed in court in December stated Ganim's administration and Remgrit "have agreed in principal on a method of resolving this matter and are in the process of working out the specifics. Moreover the expected agreement will require approval of the Bridgeport City Council."
But as of January the sides were granted an extension by a judge due to an unspecified problem involving "state approval."
Jeffrey Hellman, Remgrit's New Haven-based attorney, declined to comment on the situation. Russell Liskov, Bridgeport's lawyer for the case, said last week, "We're still negotiating on what could be a proper settlement" but would not elaborate on how the state might be involved.
Gill said the desire is to have not just a physically clean site but one without any legal encumbrances before seeking interested developers.
"It's just important to get everything out of the way," he said.
Aquarion to install nearly 1.5 miles of water main in New Milford; delays possible on two streets
NEW MILFORD — Work to install water mains is scheduled to begin Monday, March 4, on Prospect Hill Road and Dorwin Hill Road, which will ensure continued water system reliability for customers, Aquarion Water Co. said.
The project will install 8,296 feet, or about 1.5 miles, of water main, according to Aquarion. It is part of an ongoing program to improve Aquarion’s water distribution system and ensure the highest quality of water.
The projects on Prospect Hill Road and Dorwin Hill Road
are expected to be completed by July. Final paving will be then coordinated
with the town and the state.
“We greatly appreciate residents’ patience during this project,” said Justin
Xenelis, Aquarion’s utility programs manager. “We will work closely with our
customers, contractors and town officials to coordinate the work and minimize
any disruptions.”
Drivers should expect minor traffic delays and possible detours from 7 a.m. to
5 p.m. due to the construction. Tolland-based Genovesi Construction
is the contractor for the water main replacement project.
Aquarion uses an Everbridge notification system to call affected customers and keep them informed about scheduled and unscheduled work. Customers are encouraged to sign up for this free service through Aquarion’s website at www.aquarionwater.com/alerts-and-outages.
Manchester secures $1.9M in federal funding for solar, geothermal projects at elementary schools
MANCHESTER — The town will receive $1.9 million in federal funding for two of its "net-zero" elementary schools after the costs to renovate them exceeded the initial estimates.
The money, announced by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Friday, will help cover major renovations at Bowers Elementary School, which reopened its doors at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, and Keeney Elementary School, scheduled for completion at the start of next school year.
In June 2019, local voters approved up to $93 million for the SMARTR2 school renovation project to convert three of Manchester's elementary schools into emissions-free buildings powered by sustainable energy. Manchester secured $81 million in bonds for the project, with roughly two-thirds sourced from the state's Construction Grant Program, and allocated $5 million from the town's reserve fund.
Buckley Elementary School, the first of the three to be renovated, was completed in September 2022 and has since been verified by the state as its first "net-zero" K-12 school.
Officials from Blumenthal's office said the price of solar and geothermal energy equipment at Bowers and Keeney has increased, and the $1.9 million will cover half of the outstanding costs.
Manchester recently received $800,000 for a sidewalk program that would help provide safe pedestrian access to and from Keeney, with construction expected in summer or fall 2024.
Meriden sets timeline for new senior center and health department
MERIDEN — When the call comes to set up an emergency shelter, Health and Human Services Director Lea Crown loads her car up with cots and supplies from the Health Department on Miller Street to set up at the Meriden Senior Center.
"It's a lot," Crown told members of the Senior Center/Health Department Building Committee this week. "It would be great to have one local spot, separate from the senior center with a separate entrance especially at the Cook Avenue location downtown. It would be known as a hub for services."
Committee members were updated by Crown and Senior Center Director Rick Liegl about the value and potential of a gymnasium/all-purpose room for fitness, and public health uses at the planned facility.
"During the pandemic we were giving out COVID shots five or six days a week," Crown said. "We saw tens of thousands of people. The senior center and the health department are both under the Department of Health and Human Services. We're under one umbrella. So for continuity for the public and staff, it's important we're all under one roof."
The city plans to use two grants to begin construction of an estimated $48 million new senior center, a new health department, and an all-purpose room to use for senior activities that can be shared for public health uses. The first grant is for $2 million to cover environmental cleanup and demolition of the vacant medical office building at 116 Cook Ave.
The demolition and abatement part of the project is ready to be put out to bid for a contractor. The committee is also putting out requests for qualifications for an architect to design the new facility and provide a cost estimate.
Acting City Manager Emily Holland recently met with state lawmakers and City Council leaders to finalize a Community Investment Fund grant application for $5 million to begin the design and construction phases of the new project. Holland and the City Council are also finalizing a request for qualifications to potential bidders expected to be completed by March 12. Those requests will be circulated to potential bidders by March 26. Committee interviews will be from March 26 to April 9, and selection of an architect with a signed contract by mid-April.
Committee members agreed to wait until the entire project was designed before possibly trimming any aspects, particularly the gymnasium/all-purpose room.
The committee and "members of the public spent a year studying what the needs were both at our current facility and other facilities," said Mayor Kevin Scarpati. "We had professional insight into what this would look like including the gymnasium. That multi-purpose room was critical for the community and your needs."
Crown continued that the health department has flu clinics, health fairs, and other events throughout the years that won't interfere with the senior center or the health department if there is a new building. Health department guests must now walk through a public waiting room to meet with public health officials in the current building, she said.
Committtee Chairman Bruce Fontanella suggested they go through the architectural selection process with a "charge to build what we want. When bids come in we'll have that option to change," he said. "We're making the complex into three parts. gymnasium, senior center, and health department with separate costs. I suggest the architect take that same approach."
The Community Investment Fund grant is administered by the state's Department of Economic and Community Development to spur economic development. One committee member asked if building a senior center fit within the scope of economic development.
Holland replied that the program stipulates the parcel be used in conformance with the TOD (transit-oriented district) and the city is in compliance with the grant documents.
Members of the public had questions about the length of time it took to demolish the building given the city had the $2 million. Some of the delay is due to the abrupt change in city manager following Timothy Coon's , leaving Holland to research the amount of cleanup already completed at the site to share with the contractor. She is also confident the city can allay concerns about the chronic flooding problems at the site, given the past and future flood control work around the downtown area.
Set for Hartford growth spurt, UConn seeks to offer downtown student housing
The University of Connecticut is deepening its ties to the Capital City, with plans to grow its downtown campus footprint while connecting students to new research, employment, internship and even housing opportunities.
The expansion includes UConn taking over 51,000 square feet of vacant space at the XL Center, where the school this fall will debut new research and clinical programs.
University leaders are also strongly considering the addition of student dormitory space downtown. The effort would likely include a partnership with a private developer who would convert an empty or underutilized office building into student housing.
The overall expansion, school leaders said, aims to create new work and internship opportunities for students, while also opening up potential partnerships with Hartford businesses, nonprofits and arts programs.
Dormitory space would also satisfy students’ long-running desires for a more traditional college experience in the city, said Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, dean and chief academic officer of UConn’s Hartford campus.
“For me, it’s all about how do I improve their education and their experience, and enhance those with what’s going on in the city,” Overmyer-Velazquez said.
UConn is finalizing a five-year lease for the XL Center space, which was previously occupied by the University of St. Joseph’s pharmacy school.
UConn has set a tentative $1.2 million budget to retrofit the space, which will host a new agricultural and food science program, sports medicine center, mental health clinic and two badly needed lecture halls.
State lawmakers last year allocated $5 million in bond funding to support the expansion. The state Bond Commission approved those funds in December.
It will be the largest expansion in Hartford by UConn since 2017, when the school debuted its new $150 million regional campus in the former Hartford Times Building.
The Hartford campus, which relocated from West Hartford, brought with it much fanfare, originally hosting about 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students and 300 faculty.
UConn also has its graduate business school in downtown Hartford, located at Constitution Plaza.
Residential expansion
UConn could begin offering downtown housing options by the end of this year or in 2025, school officials said.
In addition to undergraduate students, it could accommodate pupils from UConn’s Hartford-based law school and Farmington-based medical campus.
“We are looking at establishing a residence hall for undergraduate students, and also possibly graduate students in downtown Hartford,” UConn Provost Anne D’Alleva recently told the Hartford Business Journal. “Students at the Hartford campus have for some time shared that they would like to have a housing option as part of their college experience.”
UConn is considering a pilot program in which it would lease downtown apartments from a private landlord and make the units available for students.
It’s a model the school already employs at its campus in Stamford, where UConn leases three residential buildings that house about 500 students who live in suite-style apartments.
UConn, which directly manages those residence halls, plans to lease additional space near its Stamford campus this fall to increase student housing options there, officials said.
UConn also has student housing available at its Waterbury campus that operates in a slightly different manner.
“There is a lot of demand for housing in Stamford, and we believe that demand would be equally strong for a residential experience at the Hartford campus,” D’Alleva said.
D’Alleva said UConn isn’t looking to acquire additional Hartford real estate, so any dormitory space would require a partnership with a private landlord or developer.
“The process right now is about identifying a suitable location and then, I think, we need to assess what renovations might be necessary,” D’Alleva said.
Christopher Reilly, president of prolific Hartford-based developer Lexington Partners, said his firm is speaking with UConn about possibly redeveloping existing office space into dorms, which would be leased to the university.
“They are very motivated, and we are still trying to work out how to do it all,” Reilly said.
New programs, greater impact
City officials said UConn’s Hartford expansion will provide downtown an economic boost.
The move will bring hundreds of additional students to the city each weekday during the school year.
“We are talking about all of these younger students and grad students who are going to be spending their time there, that will create a new attraction for business,” said Hartford Economic Development Director Patrick Pentalow. “I think it’s a huge win for Hartford, and I think it’s a win for UConn as well.”
The XL Center will host a new food innovation center headed by UConn’s Department of Agriculture. The center is meant to help Connecticut farmers produce in-demand crops, increasing the value of the state’s agricultural sector. The center will also pair UConn faculty with industry to conduct research and joint projects.
The psychology clinic will provide low-cost therapy services to the public and hands-on experience for students. The Institute for Sports Medicine inside the XL Center will bring together researchers, physicians, clinicians and physical therapists from the UConn Department of Kinesiology in Storrs and UConn Health to provide instruction and services, said Pamir Alpay, UConn’s vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“This will be a very central location where we can do clinical work, where we can do research work,” Alpay said.
Alpay said the university hopes the new clinical opportunities will help spur future enrollment growth. The Hartford campus began the 2023 fall semester with 1,473 undergraduate students.
D’Alleva said the upcoming Hartford expansion also complements the university’s recently adopted 10-year strategic master plan, which calls for “seven world-class campuses and one flagship university.”
The campuses include Storrs; the regionals in Hartford, Waterbury, Stamford and Avery Point in Groton; along with the UConn Health facility in Farmington and UConn’s law school in Hartford.
“The idea is that we want to build each of our campuses and take advantage of opportunities that each of our locations represent,” D’Alleva said. “Of course, Hartford is our capital and a major business city in the nation, and so we want to build our presence in Hartford.”
Spinnaker pays $3.25M for 2.2-acre development site key to planned Hartford neighborhood
Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, on Tuesday, paid $3.25 million for a 2.2-acre parking lot seen as key to Hartford’s efforts to build a vibrant new neighborhood south of Bushnell Park.
The purchase of the land near the city center sets the stage for the eventual redevelopment of the parcel in accordance with the city’s Bushnell South master plan, which calls for a neighborhood of 1,200 households, mixed with parks, commercial space and parking structures.
“It brings the land together,” said Capital Region Development Authority Executive Director Michael Freimuth. “This was the missing piece in the jigsaw of real estate.”
Freimuth confirmed the sale, which, as of Friday morning, had not yet been logged in the city’s online land records.
The CRDA, in January, agreed to lend Spinnaker $3 million toward the purchase of the properties at 63 and 67 Capitol Ave., and 186 Buckingham St., in February. In return, Spinnaker had to pledge the site would be barred from consideration for a new federal courthouse. The developer also agreed to three years of free parking access for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and that the theater could seek to invest in first-floor commercial space or parking on-site as it is redeveloped.
Spinnaker had an option to purchase the property from the Simon Konover Co., and was under deadline pressure to exercise it.
Freimuth said he doesn’t expect to see development activity on the newly acquired site for three to five years, as Spinnaker works through other Hartford projects already in the pipeline.
Spinnaker is nearing completion of its $66 million redevelopment of two antique office buildings at 55 Elm St. into 164 apartments. This development site is just north of the site Spinnaker bought from Konover. Freimuth said he expects the first apartments to begin renting by this summer.
Next, Spinnaker will move forward with ground-up construction of 180 apartments in two new buildings on the grounds of 55 Elm St., Freimuth said. He estimates that work could begin in 18 to 24 months.
CRDA has lent $13.5 million toward the ongoing construction at 55 Elm St. Of that amount, $6.5 million is a “bridge loan,” in place until historic tax credits are secured with completion of construction, Freimuth said.
For now, the plan is to roll that funding into Spinnaker’s next development at 55 Elm St.
CT town plans summer upgrades for Elm and Hubbard Streets
KURT MOFFETT
WINSTED – The town plans to improve the condition of two more of its worst roads this summer.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held an informational meeting last week to hear about the two road projects – Elm Street, from Main to Gay streets, and Hubbard Street, from Boyd Street (Route 263) to its dead end.
Public works Director James Rollins told the commission both projects will improve the roads, sidewalks and drainage. His department intends to put the projects out to bid this spring and begin construction this summer, with completion by fall.
“We’re right on schedule,” he said.
Engineers David Battista and Robert Colabella designed the Elm Street project, which Battista said is estimated to cost $1.55 million. The town is paying for most of the project through an $18.3 million bond package voters approved in 2022, Rollins noted. There is some state grant money covering the cost of certain sections.
Colabella said the project includes installation of 16 catch basins over an 870-foot stretch of road. It also extends up connecting roads High and Wheeler streets by 75 feet each, Gay Street by 45 feet, and Thibault and Center streets by 80 feet each. The sidewalks will be handicapped-accessible and two fire hydrants will be replaced.
Battista said one of the major improvements he and Colabella designed is reshaping the crown of the road so that storm water flows better and drains into the new catch basins.
“If you drive through there after heavy rain, especially at the Wheeler Street intersection, back toward Gay Street, there’s puddles there all the time,” he said. “The road is dead flat so there’s no place for the water to go.”
Battista said motorists traveling through that area during construction should be aware the town will at times make the roads one-way or block them off entirely, “depending on the work they’re doing and what kind of equipment they need to bring in to do the work.”
The contractor also will have to come up with a plan with the police and fire departments and the ambulance service to ensure emergency vehicles can get to where they need to go during construction.
Colabella said Elm Street is one of the town’s oldest roads, and there is a “conglomerate” of utilities at the intersection of Elm and Center streets. Battista said their firm hired a utility location service to help them find underground utilities.
“The biggest problem we will have is finding things we had no idea they were there,” he said. “There’s a lot of junk in the street out there.”
As for Hubbard Street, Rollins said he does not have a cost estimate yet, but the town will pay for the entire road project through the bond package. He said there is a section of road near the dead end where they will not construct a sidewalk “because they don’t know what to do with it.”
The engineer for this project, Charles Hornak, said the road has a lot of drainage issues and the pavement is in poor condition, especially at the dead end, where it has completely crumbled. He also said there is a lot of “ponding” at the intersection with John Street, which contributes to the destruction of the road.
Rollins said of the 22 road upgrade projects included in the bond package, the town so far completed five of them: Marshall Street, Case Avenue, Case Avenue bridge, the Taylor Brook culvert and Whiting Street.