November 16 — Footers started this week!
Mosser Construction has started work on installing the footers for the building this week. Despite the heavy rains on Monday, they have are back at work today, digging and getting concrete poured as they go. It is really exciting seeing the final steps of “underground” work occurring now with the knowledge that, before much longer, the work will be visible! Don’t forget to check the Live Construction Webcam available on the tab above.
I also want to remind everyone of the Groundbreaking Ceremony on November 22 at 2:15. I will have a simple agenda posted here in the next couple of days. I hope many of you are able to attend.
11-11-11 Veterans’ Day
Today, our entire student body was able to take part in a very impressive Veterans’ Day Assembly. If you weren’t able to attend today’s ceremony, please be sure to click on the “HL Veteran’s Day Slide Show” on the school home page to view a special video tribute. (Make sure your sound is turned on as well)
Special thanks to all involved in the organization of this activity as well as the TAG group and other students and staff involved in collection and packaging of supplies to be shipped to members of the armed services and their families. Last year our school shipped 32 boxes and this year we were able to MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT NUMBER!
A special “Thank You” also goes out to the local business that quickly jumped in to help offset the additional shipping costs we faced with the increased number of boxes to be delivered.
Finally, on behalf of the Board of Education, staff and students of Hopewell-Loudon School, “Thank You” to all those who have served, or are currently serving, our country in the armed forces. You truly make this a country with freedoms like no other!
November 8 Update
The early site work is nearing completion. The cement stabilization process is progressing, but additional soil quality issues were discovered. This “quicksand” area will require more complicated stabilization procedures and will be funded through the contingency funds. As I write this, we do not have final numbers or even a determination of the actual process to be used but, with the recent dry weather, the area of concern is much smaller than last week.
Work trailers for the various contractors have begun to arrive and the construction fence is scheduled to be installed very soon as well. Mosser Construction has announced a November 14 tentative date for beginning work on the building footers, with the schedule being finalized in the next few days by both Mosser and Touchstone CPM.
Plans continue for the November 22 Groundbreaking ceremonies. We are planning for the ceremony to start at 2:15 and last approximately 30 minutes. More details will follow and will be provided here as well as in the district newsletter.
October 25 — Soil Stabilization Required
The ongoing wet weather and poor soil conditions in the parking/driveway areas starting at the southeast corner of the new building and running around the south side and to the back of the building has posed some problems with the completion of the early site work. Due to these conditions, a decision has been made to use a “cement stabilization” process on those areas to protect the project timeline as well as provide the best long term durability solution to the pavement in those areas.
Cement stabilization, as I understand it, will involve injecting a cement mix into the soil and then “working up” the soil and cement mix in order to provide a dry and extremely durable subsurface for the parking lots and driveways, especially in the areas where buses and other heavy vehicles will be on a regular basis. The additional costs associated with this process will come from the construction project’s contingency funds.
October 21 — Contracts Awarded for New School!
At their meeting Wednesday night, the Board of Education approved the awarding of contracts to the following contractors:
- General Trades — Mosser Construction, Fremont. $13,059,300 + $158,000 in additional locally funded initiatives
- Mechanical Systems — VM Systems, Toledo. $3,411,800
- Electrical Systems – Bromack Electric, New Riegel. $2,998,000
- Plumbing Systems — Warner Mechanical, Fremont. $1,377,644
- Fire Suppression – Vulcan Fire Protection, Carey. $305,500
- Kitchen Equipment – Great Lakes Hotel Supply, Detroit. $456,038
While these contracts are being finalized Alvada Construction (ACI) is nearing completion of their early site work. There have been some delays to their schedule due to the amount of rain received this fall, but ACI has done a tremendous job of staying as close to schedule as possible–even though they have lost almost 30 working days due to weather! Our thanks to that crew for going above and beyond to keep our project moving on schedule!
Community Forum Presentation
For those of you who were not able to get to the Community Forum:
October 19 — Community Forum Tonight!
It’s not too late to make plans to attend tonight’s Community Forum to be held at 7:30 in the auditorium.
We will be sharing exciting new information on the school construction project as well as other important information related to the district.
Child care will be provided by our high school students.
I hope to see you there!
October 17 — Webcam now active
The webcam view of the construction site can now be viewed by clicking the “Live Construction Webcam” tab in the red bar at the top of the screen.
There are also a few more still photos available on the “Construction Photos” tab.
Finally, please make plans to attend the Community Forum on Wednesday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Updated information and timelines for the construction project as well as a slide show of the building design will be presented. Child care services will again be provided to make it easier for families of younger children to attend.
I hope to see you there!
October 13
We have just received word that all of our apparent low bidders have been approved by the OSFC and have received a recommendation to approve contracts for those 6 contractors. The Board of Education will also be considering a recommendation to fund three alternates to project–terrazzo on all first floor corridors, additional fixed cabinetry in all classrooms and enhancements to the Library/Media Center– through interest earned to date and other local funds. The Board will be acting on these recommendations at our October 19 meeting, which starts at 6:00. Once the contracts are all finalized, we expect to have work begin on the building footers in early November.
As stated before, we will also hold a Community Forum on the 19th at 7:30 p.m . in the auditorium. More detailed information on the building, including drawings/renderings will be shown. Please note that there will NOT be the informational/question time one hour prior to board meeting that day since we are having the Community Forum.
See you on the 19th!
October 11 — Site Work Update
The recent good weather has allowed our site work contractor, ACI (Alvada Construction), to catch up quite a bit following the regular rains of the past few weeks which have caused in the neighborhood of 25 lost work days to date.
The driveway entrances have been cut and filled, including the stone base. The crews will be rolling and stoning the parking lots, starting with the north lot, then moving to the front (west) lot. From there they will move to the south and finally the east (back of the building) paved areas. Pre-testing was conducted on the sanitary system, all of which returned favorable results.
ACI is expecting to wrap up around the end of this month, opening the site for the building trades contractors to move in to begin the construction project.