Work will begin soon on permanent repairs to the parking garage at the Trumbull mall damaged more than a year ago. About three-quarters of the Red Garage, near the Target store, will be rebuilt over the next 18 months, according to an announcement on the town’s website. The garage will be closed during the first of three phases of construction. The upper deck and part of the lower deck of the garage were closed temporarily in February 2022 when a chunk of concrete fell through the deck, creating a large pothole. The upper deck of the garage remains closed to vehicles, but most of the lower deck is now open. The first phase of construction will replace the part of the garage closest to Target, Bakalar said. The company would like to have construction done before back-to-school shopping season, she said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/trumbull-mall-parking-deck-repairs-begin-soon-18109081.php

Turner Construction is due to have a conceptual design estimate ready for the Board of Education and building committee by May 24. Laura Kostin, board member and member of the CMS committee, said that if the estimate is higher than the current budget appropriation from the Board of Estimate and Taxation — which for this upcoming fiscal year is $67.5 million — then the BOE has decisions to make. Turner said that the committee is only in the early stages of the project, as it is only about 100 days in the conceptual design process, but it already has set some parameters. The proposed new building is 124,623 gross square feet, with 81,005 net square feet is dedicated to educational programming. Turner said construction is aimed at a June 2024 start date and go through February 2026, with demolition of the existing building aiming to run from June 2026 to September 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/greenwich-central-middle-school-updates-18105249.php

Since last year, the Connecticut Department of Transportation has been working on a master plan that will guide future improvements to the state-owned station. The ultimate goal is to increase access and public transit ridership by turning the station into a “best-in-class facility,” according to a news release. CTDOT will host an open house event from 4 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. May 24 at the Stamford Transportation Center to update riders about ongoing renovation plans and get feedback on two concepts being floated for possible redesigns. The redesigns are aimed to reduce congestion and make the street more welcoming to pedestrians and bikers. Both renderings show Station Place as a one-way street west toward Washington Boulevard with a new two-way bike path and covered bike parking. Most of the images include a large building in place of the current parking garage.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-train-station-redesign-look-18105265.php?src=sthpdesecp

The new court, to be installed over the coming months, opens a new era and essentially opens the next facilities initiative — adjusting game-day and student-athlete experiences in the iconic building that opened during the Dream Season of 1989-90. UConn has begun working with Populous, a Boston-based architectural firm that specializes in stadiums, toward plans for various renovations. Early ideas were ambitious. The cost estimate came back at north of $300 million. So, for now, the athletic department will focus on what is necessary instead of what remains eventually possible. Projects in the coming years will cost $30-50 million, depending on fundraising success, Benedict said. Gampel, constructed at a cost of $28 million ($65 million today), opened in January 1990. The building underwent $10 million of work on its roof in 2017. The goal now is to make the arena more comfortable and all areas of it more accessible.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/uconn/article/gampel-pavilion-huskies-18107399.php

Workers have begun cutting off the gas mains under the bridge and are expected to finish this week. The next step is to work on the new footprint which will extend the bridge from 35 feet to 55 or 60 feet. The existing bridge will be demolished and the new abutments will be built at the same time. The road pavement will be raised six inches. The bridge carries traffic over Harbor Brook between Park and Pratt streets. Last year, the city received notice from the South Central Regional Council of Governments that it had been awarded a $3.8 million Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program grant from the state for the project. Milone & McBroom are engineering the expansion of the Meriden Green. BL Cos. is doing the channel redesign between Cedar and Center streets.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Work-underway-on-the-cedar-street-bridge-The-road-is-partially-closed.html

Construction has started but is not finished. Three stories of elevated steel and dark gray metal walls at the site still appeared bare and hollow. Mayor Michael Passero said it was a celebration of the construction’s halfway point. He said the developers, New-York based Vessel Technologies, started putting together what is to be a five-story modern apartment building four weeks ago. Rubler said the material for the building was pre-fabricated at a facility in York, Pa., and made in a way that makes the completed building and its construction more efficient. He said this method does not make it any less safer than other buildings and the material used, such as steel, is non-combustible and able to withstand major storms. Passero said the “cutting edge” development is significant as the site has been vacant for nearly 30 years since the colonial-era building there burned to the ground.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230519/new-london-officials-celebrate-speedy-construction-of-downtown-apartments/

In April, a bipartisan group of House education and workforce committee members introduced the National Apprenticeship Act of 2023. Creating near one million registered, youth and pre- apprenticeship opportunities over five years, it earmarks almost $4 million for the cause. The proposed legislation authorizes $400 million in funding for fiscal year 2025, increasing by $100 million annually to $800 million for FY 2029. Last fall, President Biden launched the Apprenticeship Ambassador Initiative, a network of businesses and organizations supporting registered apprenticeship. The more than 200 businesses and organizations have existing registered apprenticeship programs in more than 40 industries. The program also provides workers with on-the-job learning experience, job-related instruction with a mentor and a clear pathway to a good-paying job. It builds on Biden’s efforts to expand registered apprenticeships, including investing hundreds of millions of dollars in them.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/putting-spotlight-on-apprenticeships/61166

Property owner, applicant and developer Brook Street Rocky Hill LLC, headed by principal Miodrag Delmic, has submitted a site plan application to the Rocky Hill Planning and Zoning Commission for properties at 553, 565 and 595 Brook St. Delmic is proposing to build four new warehouses on the site: two will be 30,000 square feet with six bays each; one will be 20,000 square feet with four bays; and one will be 40,000 square feet with eight bays. The warehouses are being built on speculation as their uses have not been identified, Delmic said. A zone change for the Rocky Hill properties would be required as the area is now zoned for an office park and would be changed to a business park. The developer presented the plans to the town Open Space and Conservation Commission and received approval.

Rocky Hill warehouse complex proposed

After being in the works for five years, a plan to expand Hamden Middle School to accommodate sixth-grade students has been nixed, but the reason for the decision depends on whom you ask. The expansion would have allowed the district to move sixth graders from the elementary schools to the middle school, offering them more learning opportunities and freeing up space for universal pre-K.
It originally was part of the Reimagine, Restructure, Results Initiative, a $30 million districtwide proposal approved in 2019 aimed at addressing declining enrollment and impending racial imbalances in the district. By late last year, the middle school expansion was all that remained. By then, the estimated cost of the project had gone up to approximately $22 million — double the $11 million price tag the council originally authorized. In the meantime, the board is going back to the drawing board to come up with a redistricting plan.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/hamden-middle-school-expansion-nixed-18100560.php

Nearly all workers in Connecticut, regardless of industry, could soon be eligible for up to two weeks of paid sick leave each year under legislation approved by Senate lawmakers on Thursday. The bill currently before lawmakers would expand that eligibility to all private-sector workers, with the sole exception of construction workers who are covered by collective bargaining agreements. In addition, covered employees would be able to accrue sick time faster, gaining up to 80 hours — two weeks — of time off each year. The proposal has elicited the strong support of unions, workers and physicians, who touted the health benefits of allowing workers the ease of taking time off to care for themselves and family members. According to legislative analysts, the bill would extend paid sick leave to 1.6 million workers in Connecticut. After roughly two hours of debate Thursday, the Senate voted 20 to 12 along party lines in favor of the legislation, sending it to the House for further consideration.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/politics/article/ct-paid-sick-leave-law-expand-most-workers-2-weeks-18107077.php