Berlin High School Renovations Under Budget
By David Huck | Correspondent at September 12, 2023 | 9:00 am | Print
The renovation of Berlin High School is proceeding at a pace that’s $500,000 under budget, officials say.
“To date…we’re below a half million dollars under budget,” Town Engineer Arthur Simonian said. “The contingency is still at a health amount—over $3 million.”
When completed in two years, the project is expected to cost more than $80 million.
Phase one of the multiyear project wrapped up just before the recent start of the new school year. The completion of that phase, which involved changes to about 80,000 square feet of space, was followed by a presentation to the Town Council at its Sept. 2 meeting as part of a formal update.
Simonian said that workers were making progress on the overall project after falling behind a little bit due to unfavorable weather in the spring.
Tom Smith, a representative from Gilbane, provided the council with a slideshow presentation showing before and after photos of recently completed work. Some of the transformations included converting an area that once housed lockers to classrooms, turning an amphitheater into a television studio, and making the corner of a hallway the headquarters for the high school’s radio station.
Dispelling rumors that school was going to start late, Smith said, “We are on schedule. There was a push at the end. We had hoped to be wrapped up a little sooner than we were.” Talking about the budget of the project, Smith said, “Financially, we are in great shape.”
Despite those challenges, the school is “operational” and stage 2 is off to a good start, Smith said.
“It’s great that we were able to start school on time,” Council member Margaret Morelli said.
Other changes included the removal of a stairway to make way for the addition of an elevator and a new interior staircase near the cafeteria, which was also given a makeover.
Visitors passing by the school this fall will notice major changes to the exterior, including the staircase and overhang near the entrance and work being done to the multi-story media center. A new lobby addition will be added to the school as part of the renovations. In a courtyard, a new greenhouse is also being added.
A new chiller room was also added and will provide cooling to the entire school when all the phases are completed.
In late July, work began on the southwest corner of the school to convert it to a new science wing.
The renovations are intended to address deficiencies noted in a study that was done of the school in 2010. Some of the shortfalls included accessibility and fire code issues, air quality concerns in some classrooms, inadequate onsite athletic facilities, a lack of confidential spaces, and a need to improve the media center. The report also found the school needing extensive mechanical and electrical system upgrades and changes to improve traffic flow.
Phase two work also includes renovations to the ground level of the media center, the main gymnasium, and the former nurse’s suite. Ongoing abatement work is also taking place. Some of the work can’t take place unless students are gone from the building.
Work to gym “A” is wrapping up and is schedule to be turned back over to the school the Friday before Thanksgiving so that it’s available for the basketball season.
The “balance” of stage 2 work will be completed over the spring and summer of 2015, Smith said. “I’m not going to make any other promises at this meeting,” Smith said, adding that workers are striving to turn over the new science wing by spring break.
Work on the final phase of the project will begin in June 2015, as soon as students leave for summer break. Completion is slated for the fall of 2016.
