Construction on Hanover Elementary School's new wing is set to start Dec. 12, reported architects for the project at the School Building Committee meeting Thursday night.
Bob Andrade, architect for the new wing, informed the committee that the city has awarded the construction contract to Enfield Builders, the lowest of 13 bidders for the project.
All of the firms came in under budget, and “all were fairly close,” Andrade revealed. The project will cost an estimated $7,247,500, about 84% paid for by the state.
The new wing is central to the school board’s plan to launch a city-wide all-day kindergarten program next fall. The addition to the school will house not only Hanover’s kindergartners, but also kindergartners who will then go on to attend the now overcrowded Casimir Pulaski School.
“Enfield Builders is planning to mobilize no later than December 12,” Andrade told the group. The project is estimated to take about a year to complete.
The new wing was originally scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2012-13 school year, but was held up when a small amount of PCBs – a toxic pollutant once common in many construction materials – were found around a window of the existing building.
The project remained at a standstill for several months until the EPA approved plans for removal of the toxic chemicals. Students may have to be housed in temporary classrooms until construction is complete, School Superintendent Mark Benigni said at a previous school board meeting.
Removal of the PCBs will be done during the upcoming winter vacation, Andrade said Thursday night. He assured the group the work could be completed in the one-week time frame because it only involves one window.
“I know it’s one window, but this one window has caused us a whole lot of grief,” said committee member Kim Carbone-Pandiani.
