Exterior Work Continues on Colegrove Park School
 Work on the roof at Colegrove Park Schools is expected to be completed in about two weeks, weather permitting. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The roof on Colegrove Park School should be completed in 12 to 15 days — if the weather holds out.
Roofing materials arrived by the end of November but the weather hasn't been cooperative.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said demolition is essentially completed and no surprises are expected as roof work continues.
"They haven't seen anything and they're not anticipating anything," he said.
Matthew Neville, the school system's director of facilities, said the building, originally Drury High School, has a 5-foot crawlspace underneath the roof that was used to evaluate it and nothing significant was found.
The roof on the 100-year-old structure is being redone as part of the $30 million renovation of the former Conte Middle School into a kindergarten-through-Grade 7 facility.
The School Building Committee was given a brief update on Monday on progress so far.
Most of the site preparation on the East Main Street side, including grading, paving, curbs and lighting, is completed, as is a retaining wall on the west side completed in November that came in well below expectation.
Electrical, plumbing, ductwork, mechanical and interior framing are being installed. Layout and construction of the new gym floor has started.
The somewhat painstaking process of installing the windows is also under way — they have to be assembled and then tested for airflow. Stone lentils are being removed and remortared behind enclosed sections, heated to allow the mortar to properly set.
"This is the hard part, we're in the winter with difficult conditions. You don't get to see anything because it's covered up," said Margo Jones of Jones Whitsett Architects. "They're working away inside. Progress is being made."
The project is still on time and, so far, under budget. Less than $300,000, or about 10 percent of budgeted contingency money has been used.
Alcombright said afterward that there has been about a dozen change orders on the job, the largest being an extra $40,000 to clean the century-old masonry on the three-story brick building.
"They are very pleased, the whole team up there, is very pleased with that," he said, referring to the number of change orders.
The mayor has also asked the owner's project manager to find out how many local companies are working on the structure.
"We're really trying to determine how many local people we have up there ... how much of this is actually staying in the community," he said.
The next meeting will be Jan. 26, 2015, at 5 p.m. in the second-floor conference room.
Tags: Colegrove Park, Conte School, school building committee, school project,
