The Yale Peabody Museum building renovations are nearly done. For the next year, museum curators, staff and construction personnel will put the final touches on the building and re-install exhibits for the reopening in 2024. The lobby entrance, once a narrow gothic arch congested by school groups has been widened. A new freight elevator, rated for 15,000 pounds has been installed, perfect for moving large objects, or whole tour groups. Classrooms, community space and a second-story walkway ring the space. The old walls contain parts of an entirely new HVAC, mechanical and electrical system. The Yale Peabody Museum basically underwent reconstructive surgery while it was closed. The roof was removed for much of the construction. New HVAC and machine systems were inserted, like implants, underneath it. Thousands of miles of fiber optic cable were strung through the building, enabling centralized, networked, climate, lighting, and exhibit control. New energy-efficient, bird-safe windows were installed.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/the-yale-peabody-museum-enters-final-phase-18114528.php

President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck an agreement late Saturday to suspend the debt ceiling for two years. The result of their talks, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, will cut $136 billion in federal spending and avert a default, and most notably for the nation’s civil contractors, includes measures to accelerate environmental permitting. Provisions to speed projects such as some highways, bridges and pipelines include designating one lead federal agency to oversee environmental reviews and the use of a single “concise public document” for each project. Environmental reviews would have to be completed in no more than two years. Congress must pass the measure before June 5, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the United States will run out of cash.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/debt-ceiling-deal-speed-environmental-permit-infrastructure/651547/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202023-05-31%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:50915%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

Haynes and O&G were granted another two-year mining permit by the Planning & Zoning Commission, but with conditions aimed to address complaints from neighbors about noise and idling vehicles. The Haynes materials quarry, a mining operation partnership with O&G Industries, has been running for more than 20 years, with trucks and machinery running from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. The companies use the materials mined from the property for a variety of construction projects, such as roads, buildings and foundations. Every two years, the companies apply for a renewal of their permit to continue that work. In its permit renewal approval, the commission required the quarry owners to prohibit trucks from queuing outside the property gate before 7 a.m., and to adhere to the quarry hours that are included in the permit, on weekdays as well as Saturdays. While no blasting or transporting is done on Saturdays, materials such as gravel and stone are sold from the property.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/torrington-mining-operation-gets-permit-renewal-18119557.php

Springside Middletown will be one of the largest apartment complexes in Middlesex County when construction is finished, but that’s not why this project is being deemed “historic.” Following the May 16 groundbreaking on the planned 414-unit apartment complex off Newfield Street near the Cromwell line, Bob Dale, a principal of the real estate development firm PB Development, said the project is unique for several reasons. The developer’s active partnership with the city and its community groups also led to a notable tax abatement negotiation with the city, where the developer committed $1 million of the project costs as a set-aside, earmarked for minority contractors to bid work on the project. Marshall said the project is estimated to create $1.5 billion in total economic impact. “The one thing that I keep saying over and over again is this is a huge win for Middletown — it’s a cash- positive deal.” Construction is already in full swing, and has been going on for about a month. Both the first and second phases are estimated to take about 27 months to complete.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/414-unit-housing-complex-add-1-5b-middletown-ct-18117115.php

A long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony will signal the start of a facelift at Immaculate High School, with the focus on a new turf field and track along with upgrades in the building and parking lot. The groundbreaking is set for 12:30 p.m. June 6 on the field at Immaculate, which serves students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York. “Turf fields typically are replaced every 10 years, and our turf is 13 or 14 years old,” he said. “Another possibility is we are also thinking of getting new lights for the fields.” The upgrades are part of a $4 million capital campaign marking the 60th anniversary of the private Catholic high school that includes $3 million in construction improvements. A total of $2 million will be used for campus capital improvements, which will include updating and replacing windows throughout the facility; repairing the parking lots and access areas; and improving the school building and grounds.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/danbury-s-immaculate-high-begin-work-replacing-18119821.php

A new site for a federal courthouse in Hartford emerged Tuesday outside of downtown that would be among the three under consideration to replace the 60-year-old Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building and Courthouse on Main Street. A state office building on 10 acres at 61 Woodland St. in the city’s Asylum Hill neighborhood is now among the sites being considered for the planned $335 million new federal courthouse. he site, at the corner of Woodland and Asylum streets, was included in an announcement Tuesday in advance of a public meeting on June 6 to present the three options and inform the public on how comments can be submitted to the federal government. In 2022, the GSA received authorization for $335 million to purchase a site, design and building a new, 281,000 square-foot federal courthouse. So far, $273.5 million has been appropriated by the U.S. Congress. A new federal courthouse in Hartford has been discussed for years, and in 2020, the courthouse was listed as the top one needing replacement across the country. A groundbreaking could still be several years away.

New Hartford site emerges as potential location for new, $335M federal courthouse

The state Port Authority is planning to request an additional $30 million in bonding to complete the state pier project, pushing the total cost to $300 million. The goal of the state pier project is to upgrade the facility to accommodate a wind power hub servicing offshore wind farms that would bring power to Connecticut and the region. Of that $255.5 million, $77.5 million has been borne by Eversource and Ørsted, the power companies that will run the windfarms and pier once they are built. That $77.5 million contribution will increase by $23.75 million, a bit more than half of the additional $47 million cost of the project. The Port Authority will request the other half, $23.5 million, plus a $6 million contingency from the state. The first wind project, which had been expected to be operational this year, will consist of 12 turbines supplying energy to 70,000 homes on Long Island’s south fork. Two years later, another 65 turbines are expected to provide energy to 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Another 84 turbines should go operational that year, providing energy to 600,000 homes in New York state. The state pier would act as a staging ground for all those projects during both construction and operation.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/ct-state-pier-project-18125732.php?src=sthppromostrip

The water company will be installing about six-tenths of a mile, or 3,300 feet, of water main on Church Street between Rubber Avenue and Division Street, Rubber Avenue between Water Street and Church Street, Barnum Court and Park Place. The price tag for the project is $2.4 million, which will be funded through the Water Infrastructure and Conservation Adjustment on customers’ bills, according to a press release on May 18. Work hours for the construction project will be from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the weekdays, and the project is expected to be finished by August, according to the release. In February 2022 the Board of Mayor and Burgesses approved to contract with Kleinfelder Engineering, of San Diego, California to design storm water and sanitary sewer systems, offer construction oversight of the design, and to oversee a plan to repair, replace and improve those systems.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2023/05/29/water-main-installation-set-to-begin-in-downtown-naugatuck/

Amid significant growth in the region and a major housing shortage, the town is looking at how to decide the fate of more than 50 unused town-owned properties that have been vacant for years, while involving community members more. They have created a Property Re-Use Committee and stopped issuing requests for proposals for the properties, even as developers show strong interest. Electric Boat, planning to hire thousands of new employees over the next two to three years, is a major driver of the demand, along with decades of slow housing construction. Some residents have pushed back against what they see as over-development of the town and want to be more involved as the properties are redeveloped. The committee found that the town owns nearly 190 acres of unused property housed in 54 land parcels, from .03 acres to 36.7 acres, across Groton, according to a presentation to the Town Council in March. However, the majority of the land — 89% — is in 12 parcels. Paige Bronk, the town’s economic and community development manager, said once the council adopts a policy and gives the green light to advance Requests for Proposals, the private sector is definitely interested in jumping in.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230527/a-look-at-grotons-unused-town-owned-properties/

Add another month to the nearly three decades it has taken to replace the demolished Congress Street bridge linking downtown and the East Side. Bids for the estimated $24 million infrastructure project were initially due this past Tuesday. But Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration has extended the deadline to June 20. City Engineer Jon Urquidi provided a statement saying the decision was made because interested contractors needed more time to obtain accurate prices from material suppliers, subcontractors and vendors. The rusty hulk was demolished in 2010 under then-Mayor Bill Finch, who called it “the city’s most visible reminder of infrastructure neglect.” City officials over the years pivoted away from building another drawbridge, estimated in 2010 to cost $60 million, to the cheaper but more convoluted process of seeking the necessary federal and state approvals to instead install the $24 million fixed span. That effort has taken so long that the replacement of the Congress Street bridge has become a recurring campaign headache for some of those involved.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/congress-street-bridge-bridgeport-delay-bids-18120696.php