The state has awarded the city $1.4 million for two new soccer fields at Columbus Park, making way for MidState Medical Center to develop land currently home to grass soccer fields. The $4 million Meriden Soccer Athletic Complex project involves tearing out two existing softball fields at Columbus Park, located at 208 Lewis Ave., and replacing them with two all-turf soccer fields. With the combined $3.1 million from the hospital and the state, the town only needed to invest $1 million to complete the project, which is expected to open to the public next year. The state money was provided through the Community Investment Fund. The Columbus Park project is the latest in recent park renovations, including two baseball fields installed at North End Field last year and a new playscape in Columbus Park adjacent to John Barry Elementary.

https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-1-4m-soccer-fields-columbus-park-midstate-19917470.php

Demolition of the former elementary school commenced Oct. 30, following the approval of a $600,000 construction project budget transfer to address a shortfall in the Consolidated Early Learning Academy building project budget and allow for abatement and demolition at the old Consolidated site. The $29.2 million Consolidated Early Learning Academy construction project was approved by taxpayers in October 2019 — along with $84.2 million for a new high school — with some costs offset by state funding. With abatement of the old Consolidated School site complete, about two-thirds of the building had been knocked down as of Wednesday, Joe Vetro from O&G Industries said during the PBC’s Nov. 13 meeting.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-fairfield-old-consolidated-school-demolition-19916233.php

The North Street Bridge is on track to be replaced next summer, but doing the job on a shorter timeline is going to cost up to $700,000 more than originally expected. The Department of Public Works originally projected it would cost $3 million to replace the century-old bridge over at least 18 months, but officials drastically shortened the timeline to just 10 months after residents bemoaned the prospect of facing a year-long traffic jam, among other concerns. DPW asked the BET budget committee for the extra $700,000 on Nov. 13. The request was approved by the budget committee, but it still needs authorization from the full BET and the Representative Town Meeting. Work is now scheduled to begin in March. The first phase, from March to June, will keep the bridge open to traffic with some intermittent disruptions as crews do pre-work, like relocating utilities. The second phase, from June to August, will see the bridge torn down and replaced.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-north-street-bridge-cost-more-faster-19915960.php

The state Department of Transportation will hold a hybrid public information meeting next week where it will present its plans for a $32.8 million rehabilitation of the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge. The meeting will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Montville Public Safety Building at 911 Norwich-New London Turnpike. Participants can also join on Zoom. Mohegan-Pequot Bridge is a two-lane, steel girder bridge that spans the Thames River. It connects Montville and Preston via Route 2A. According to Barrows, the project, which is expected to begin in spring 2028, will address “existing deterioration” on the bridge, and extend the service life for “another 20 years or more.” DOT Communications Director Josh Morgan added the project will involve repairing critical steel components of the bridge to make sure they remain in “a state of good repair,” while milling and paving the road to make a smooth travel surface.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241115/public-meeting-to-be-held-next-week-on-32-8m-rehab-of-mohegan-pequot-bridge/

The $57.5 million project got underway after a series of adjustments to reduce the cost and meet the approved budget. These changes included eliminating improvements to security vestibules and fire protection systems and redesigning the HVAC system. The original project included improving HVAC systems at Lyme Consolidated School, Center School, Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School and Mile Creek Elementary School. It also included fire protection system upgrades, additional parking spots and the expansion of the Mile Creek building. After receiving the first bids for the HAVC for the three schools in August, the project cost had risen $7.7 million above the $57.5 million budget approved by referendum in 2022. Before the referendum, the district received a $9 million grant for the Mile Creek School expansion from the state Department of Administrative Services. In 2023, the three other schools received $12 million in grants for HVAC system upgrades, a state initiative spurred in response to COVID-19. Nevaiser said the district’s need to replace aging air conditioning equipment existed before the pandemic.

Construction Work Begins at Lyme-Old Lyme Schools as New Bids, Cuts Resolve Cost Overruns

Still reeling after learning a $54 million proposed senior center and health department campus would be delayed by more than six years, city officials have turned their sights to rehabilitating their existing buildings. Work on three bridges, and Harbor Brook dredging will significantly delay campus construction, Scarpati recapped for members of the Senior Center/ Health Department Building Committee on Wednesday. However, the dilapidated building on the proposed site at 116 Cook Ave. will likely come down this year. The lease with the state is up in 2032, but Daniels is in talks with state officials about allowing the city to renovate both floors simultaneously. Daniels asked the Finance Committee to allow him to apply for a $250,000 Community Investment Fund grant to do a needs assessment on the Health Department building. That leaves the senior center at 22 W. Main St, an 84-year-old building with water leaking throughout the outer walls into the interior. The estimated cost to repair the walls is about $360,000 however a laser roof scan conducted last week revealed about 40 percent of the insulation under the roof is saturated, Daniels said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-senior-center-health-department-delay-19916401.php

A consultant hired by the town estimated Thursday at a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting that the 40-acre Gales Ferry Intermodal site being considered for a quarry application would eventually contribute more than $1 million a year to the town’s tax base. Donald Poland of Goman + York in East Hartford cited the impact of the proposed construction of three buildings totaling 26,000 square feet on the former Dow Chemical site off Route 12 within the next 13 years. “When the development is stabilized in year 12, the site is projected to be net positive by approximately $1,064,192,” according to Poland’s slide shown Thursday. He added that the quarry project would lead to an estimated 77 full-time-equivalent jobs on a temporary basis and 130 permanent full-time jobs in the region. The effect would create an extra $7.6 million in revenue in the region, he said.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241114/analyst-controversial-ledyard-quarry-project-will-eventually-create-1m-in-tax-revenue/

The Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to approve revised plans for the four new elementary schools in the city’s $385 million school construction project. If state school construction officials approve the final plans for the first two schools, the John B. Stanton and Greeneville elementary schools, the city can put those two school projects out to bid in early January and start construction in March, project officials told the school board Tuesday. Construction on the other two new schools, the John Moriarty and Uncas schools, could start in 2026. Preliminary cost estimates have the new Greeneville Scbool at $79.4 million, $539,359 more than the funding amount provided to the state Department of Administrative Services in the city’s earlier funding authorization, School Building Committee Chairman Mark Bettencourt said Thursday. The new Stanton School is estimated at $67.5 million, nearly $1.4 million lower than the previous estimate.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20241114/norwich-approves-plans-for-four-new-elementary-schools/

Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday he is in no rush to decide if he will seek a third term in office, stating that he will wait until the end of the 2025 legislative session to decide. “I think it’s too early,” Lamont said during an interview with Hartford Business Journal. Lamont, who will turn 71 in January, is leaving his options open as well, stating that he’s been in the governor’s office for a while now “and I kind of like the job.” “I think people feel like the state’s in a better place today than we were eight years ago,” he said, noting that he’s happy to answer the question that Vice President Kamala Harris “found so nettlesome.”“I’m not going to get into it until the end of the next session,” he said. The state General Assembly will convene its 2025 legislative session on Jan. 8 and it will adjourn on June 4.

Lamont to decide on reelection bid after legislative session ends

City officials on Tuesday marked the start of construction on The Monarch, an affordable multifamily development in New Haven’s West River neighborhood. Being developed by Honeycomb Real Estate Partners, the 64-unit building will be located at the site of the former New England Linen company, at 149 and 169 Derby Ave. The $27 million project is being funded in part by a 4% federal low-income tax credit through the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, a $500,000 brownfields grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and $500,000 from American Rescue Plan Act money. The old building was razed, and the 1.77-acre site was remediated and will soon be home to a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. This project is one of the latest multifamily housing developments on vacant or abandoned sites throughout the city. Since 2020, more than 2,000 new housing units have been built in the Elm City and an additional 3,500 new units are currently in the pipeline, of which an estimated 40% are affordable.

Construction starting on $27M affordable housing project in New Haven