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Mayor Richard Alcombright talks with construction superintendent Robert Silva, with School Committee member John Hockridge, left, Daniel Daisy of Colliers International.
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Architect Margo Jones, left, and City Council President Lisa Blackmer look over the railings in a stairwell.
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School Building Committee member Ronald Superneau has been highly critical of the pace of work on the project.
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An element of the old Drury Academy wall is being featured in one of the rooms.
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Work is ongoing on every floor.
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The picture on the left shows a third-floor connecting hallway in April; on the right, the same hallway taken from the opposite doorway.

North Adams' Colegrove School May Open in New Year

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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City Councilor Nancy Bullett takes in views from the third floor at Colegrove Park Elementary School. Officials toured the project on Friday afternoon. See more photos here.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — It could be the start of the New Year before the new elementary school opens.

"I think the school transition could be over the Christmas holiday, when we have time," said Mayor Richard Alcombright on Friday during a tour of the building.

A date for Colegrove Park Elementary School's completion is unknown at this point. Construction delays led the general contractor to put the "substantial completion" date of the $29.7 million project nearly a month later than scheduled. That date's now up in the air, too.

"We're still pushing very hard ... beyond that it's up to GC to perform and really work harder to get this thing done in a timely fashion," said Alcombright.

Architect Margo Jones said there's more work beyond a "substantially complete" date before the school can be occupied.

"There's are a lot of processes that have to happen after the building is finished, like every single mechanical system, the bells and whistles are checked to make sure they're working right ... that takes four weeks of time," she said. "Then we have to put the furniture in. There's time after the construction is done that you just don't want to shrink."

Principal Shelley Fachini said the amount of time it will take teachers to move their classroom belongings depends on their grades and teaching needs. What they won't have to move is technology or furniture; the new school will have updated technology and infrastructure and modular furniture that accommodate new teaching methods.

The School Committee has already decided to move forward with redistricting for the beginning of the school year. Children who will be attending Colegrove will begin the year at Sullivan School so they can get to know their new classmates, teachers and buses. When the school is complete, they will move into Colegrove together.

The 50-year-old Sullivan School will be closed and the city will issue a request for proposals for repurposing the building. Three memorial trees at the school will not be moved because they are unlikely to survive transplantation, said the mayor, but the families will be contacted to determine their wishes on rededicating a plant or memorial stone at the new school.

School officials have been holding general contractor PDS Engineering and Construction's feet to the fire. In May, the School Building Committee was informed it would not make the July 22 for substantial completion; earlier this month, the contractor said a partial exterior wall collapse could put it off another month.

"We're talking furniture and other things, we need to get this building done," said a greatly frustrated Ronald Superneau. The School Building Committee member, a veteran of past building projects, has been harsh in his assessment of PDS' progress. "We've been begging, you've been begging, the mayor's been begging to these people to get moving on this."

There were tours of the project in October 2014 and April 2015. More images can be seen on the project blog here.

The city's architects, Jones Whitsett, and owner's project manager Colliers International Project Management Northeast (formerly SBS) have pointed to management of the manpower on site as a significant factor in delays. The project was also hampered by this past winter's severe cold that affected the masonry work, thus slowing the interior progress.

Collier's construction representative Daniel Daisy said there has been a "beefing up" of the workforce that appears to be new trades being brought in.


The contractor is responsible for costs related to delays, not the city.

"The general contractor would be subject to liquidated damages to cover unforeseen [items] ... like having an architect here for three months or whatever," Daisy said. "But getting the work done, that would be responsibility of the contractor."

PDS could face fines of $1,000 a day beyond the initial July 22 date, according to its contract. Alcombright said costs for the city's obligations are still on budget and that the Massachusetts School Building Authority has qualified some 90 percent of change orders for reimbursement.

While officials expressed their frustration with PDS, they had nothing but kind words for construction superintendent Robert Silva, who escorted the group through the building.

"This guy works his backside off," said the mayor, with Daisy adding, "with all the difficulty we've had, Bob gives it 120 percent."

It was apparent during the tour that a great deal of work is still required to transformer the former Drury High School into an elementary school. There is appreciable changes to the upper floors — which are nearly complete — since the last tour but the basement areas and first floor are still mostly bare concrete and wiring.

The new front entrance and office are taking shape and Fachini was impressed with the size of her new corner office, which had been the superintendent's office. The third floor has the most work done: lighting is in, windows are trimmed, paint is on the walls and cabinets are stacked for installation. The kitchen in the basement is nearly complete with equipment being installed.

New yellow bricks are inset in a herringbone pattern to fill up openings made by the removal of the large windows in the gymnasium. The "wall" that fell, several layers of bricks at the top of the south corner of the exterior of the gym, were in the process of being restored.

Alcombright said the bricks were set to be removed and replaced when it was discovered they had pulled away from the building's structure. After a capstone was removed, the section fell during the night and damaged the scaffolding.

"It's starting to look better," said School Building Committee member Michele Vareschi. "But it would be better if it was done."

Another tour will be scheduled next month.


Tags: Colegrove Park,   Conte School,   school building,   school building committee,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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