Weeks 34 & 35

When the job trailer leaves from a project and the supervisor moves to an office inside the building a smile comes on your face because you know it means the end is near. The new gym project job trailer left this week. Workers are everywhere taking care of finish details. The equipment contractor is installing the floor to ceiling curtain in the gym that will divide the space into two practice courts. Next they will set up the batting cage netting by attaching it to the frame which is already mounted in the ceiling. When in use the frame will be lowered to just above the gym floor to create a space where athletes can pitch and bat without breaking windows. After that they will attach the bar and fabric sling that will raise the wrestling mat to the ceiling when not in use in the wrestling room. The birch gym floor is completely installed and waits now to be sanded, finished and lined. Interior room solid wood doors are installed and the contractor is now installing the section of viewing glass in each one. Rubber tile flooring is down in the hallways and locker rooms and carpet is installed in the team room and offices. Locker rooms have lockers installed and the shower areas have partitions for showers and toilets. The wrestling room sub floor is down and the finish floor is in rolls ready to be installed. Finish flooring for the fitness room is there but waiting for the electricians to clear out of the space they have used to store electrical equipment for many weeks. The parking lot is taking shape and the binder coat of asphalt will go down next week. Two weeks left to the completion date. Punchlist review is the talk of the construction meetings lately. There is a very satisfied smile on my face these days.

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities

Week 33
This week the birch gym floor was delivered. On Monday the flooring contractors will begin installing the sub-floor and should be finished with this by the end of the day Tuesday. The sub-floor suspends the finish floor above the concrete slab providing a cushion for athletes. Once this is in place the birch floor will be installed which will take a considerable amount of time as each piece is 3” wide and the lengths vary from a few feet to as long as five feet. Once installed it will need to be sanded, stained in some areas and then varnished. The floor also needs to have lines and the Landmark Viking mascot painted onto the floor. What a beautiful sight to see the wood for the new floor stacked in the gym.

This week the gas was officially turned on and so the building now is fully heated. In the wrestling and fitness rooms the three foot wide heat duct has a long sock that extends to the other side of the room. When the heat is on this sock fills with heated air and the heat is gently distributed throughout the space through small holes in the sock wall. I had never seen this device before and it certainly is better than a single heat vent pouring heat into one end of a room.

The site contractor has installed the curbing slab in some locations so that you can begin to see what the parking lot will look like. He is working on finishing the drainage system under the parking lot and building the sidewalks along the front of the building. Each day the huge pile of loam cleared from the site back in September gets smaller. Some of that loam is being transported by the grounds department to a storage area behind the gym at the Manchester campus for use on future projects.

The baseball bating cage was installed this week in the gym and the sprinkler system was filled with water. Finish trim is being installed by carpenters on the exterior structures. The electricians are busy pulling wires through conduit which runs throughout the building. The project team is very busy resolving last minute design issues as the project completion date is only four weeks away.

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities

Weeks 31 & 32
Progress in the gym is now moving at a rapid pace. All interior walls are painted. The locker room shower areas are tiled. The ceiling grid is in installed ready for finish tiles. The last HVAC equipment is in place behind the building and ductwork is almost complete in the main gym area. The gas company turned on gas to the building yesterday and the HVAC contractor is preparing to start the system so that humidity can be controlled for the gym floor installation beginning May 3rd. The power company energized the electrical system. The HVAC roof screen is in place shielding this equipment from the view of neighbors and anyone on the street. The emergency generator is in place. The gym concrete slab floor has been leveled to receive the new wood floor. The carpenters have arrived to install trim work on the front walkway. The roofers installed the red asphalt shingles on the barn entry to match the Prep roof. Interior hallway door frames are in place. The site contractor has returned to begin the final excavation detail. The weekly construction meetings now run 3-4 hours as final details require immediate answers. Design committees are meeting regularly to make final decisions. Light fixtures will begin arriving soon and then carpet, tile and wood floor will be installed. Completion is still set for the end of May which is not far away. The end is clearly in sight!

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities

Weeks 28-30
What a thrill to walk in the gym and see backboards and rims in place for the main court. High above the backboards are the motors that will retract the backboards and the brackets for the mid court fabric divider to create two gym areas. The gym interior is now painted bright white and new HVAC duct straps are in place ready to receive the four foot diameter ducts that will supply heat and humidity control to the main gym floor area.

The construction team met this week with the gym floor manufacturer to discuss the procedure for installing the floor. We were told that the building heat and humidity has to be completely controlled by the HVAC system before the wood floor company will begin the installation. They use very sensitive humidity and moisture detection equipment to determine the amount of moisture in the air and the concrete slab floor. Building moisture affects both the wooden floor and the surface oil finish curing time.

Heat and humidity control equipment is in place and ready to be started up once the gas line is completed by the utility company. Because of the recent rain and confusion acquiring the state permit the gas pipe installation is running behind. Depending upon when the gas is turned on the completion date of the wooden floor could be delayed. In the big picture this is not an issue but it would certainly be nice to be totally completed with the project on May 28th as expected.

The architect has designed a light filled building. The gym has windows all around and light travels through the wrestling and fitness rooms into the gym. Locker rooms have solar light tubes which wash the locker rooms with natural light eliminating the cave feel typical of most locker rooms. All offices have abundant windows.

Every day there are 30 or more workers from all trades very busy in the building. Tilers are now installing ceramic tile in the shower and bathroom area of the locker rooms. Sheet rock and joint taping is complete in the conventional building and the walls are ready for painting. Joint taping is almost complete in the wrestling, fitness and gym areas.

The local power company will be shutting off the power to the Prep and some of the neighbors for two hours at the end of next week in order to energize the electrical transformer which feeds power to the new gym. Lighting fixtures should start arriving soon. Data wiring was installed recently for wireless computer signal transmission and security cameras. The pad was poured this week for the new emergency generator.

Final design issues will be resolved this coming week on line pattern and color for the gym floor, exterior sign configuration and wooden inlaid logo for the entry floor. This logo will be a combination of teak and stained birch and is expected to be stunning.

Exterior work continues on the siding and soon the shingled roof will be installed on the barn entry roof now that the skylights are in place. An enclosure will be installed soon to visually screen the HVAC equipment. The screen will match the color of the building.

May 28th is not far off. Basketball anyone??

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities

Week 27
I walked through the building this week with the high school campus director Chris Murphy and together we enjoyed seeing all the features we had requested and all the special detail designed by the architect, Chris Sgarzi. The masons are installing the interior masonry wall in the corridors which matches the exterior building masonry. Chris Murphy pointed out how durable this is and how appropriate it is for a high school population. We walked into the team room and could now see the impressive size of the room since the sheet rock is mostly in place. Chris remarked that this room would get substantial use. The gym now is defined more clearly and we both stood and appreciated the size of the space. Chris pointed out that the two cross court basketball courts were quite generous in size and could easily provide space for two full court basketball games. We then turned to look through the glass windows that separate the gym from the fitness and wrestling rooms and were so impressed with the space available in these rooms. Fitness now at the high school is in the loft of the old gym and wrestling is in the old swimming pool building on a concrete floor. The new wrestling room has a sprung synthetic floor designed for both wrestling and dance. As we left the building by the front entrance we could see the new skylights and the glass walls going into place that will separate the lobby from the entry area. Once out of the building we stopped to see how the progress was coming with the new gas line. Work started this Tuesday on Hale Street to bring the gas line from the Woodside dorm area to the new athletic center. The athletic center project is right on schedule. I cannot wait to hear students and faculty enjoying their new facility.

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities

Weeks 24-26
When the contractor starts asking about paint and door lock cylinders you know you are coming to the completion of a project. There is still much to get done in the new Landmark Athletic and Activity Center but the end is in sight. The electrical contractor has both the electrical and fire alarm rough inspections from the town. The plumber has his rough inspections. The window contractor has installed all the windows and the building is closed in. The site contractor is busy installing more of the drainage system around the perimeter of the building. The HVAC contractor continues to install ductwork and the rooftop heating equipment is soon to be delivered. The gas company tells us that Monday, March 15 is the start day for them to install the new gas line down Hale Street. New clapboard siding is now on in some sections of the conventional building and all of the exterior masonry is complete. The lightning protection system is in being installed. For the first time finish sheetrock contractors are on site installing in some sections. This work will expand next week. Skylights will be going into the shed entryway soon followed by roofing.
May 28th is not far away.

Week 23
Cutler Construction reported at this week’s construction meeting that they were one week away from being completely closed in. The final exterior masonry is about complete and once this is done the pre-engineered building shell crew will return followed by the glass company to install glass in each of the many windows. Rough-in work by plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors continues with a rough inspection due for electrical and plumbing in two weeks. Cutler requested that we ask the gas company to install the gas line on Hale Street as quickly as possible since once enclosed the building will need heat and once interior finishes begin both heat and humidity control will be critical. I was also given a report from Cutler which showed that 93.6% of all waste created by this project was recycled and removed from the waste stream. The project continues to be on track for a late May opening.

Dave Seiter
Director of Facilities