Greenwich Post
Worth-less deadlines?
Building committee anticipates more setbacks at Hamilton Avenue

Mar 26, 2008

Delays at Hamilton Avenue School have pushed back the completion date for renovation from September 2007 to May 31. Now that deadline is in question too. %u2014 Ken Borsuk photo

BREAKING NEWS

Another deadline threatens to elude workers in the construction of the new Hamilton Avenue School.

Though the project’s contractor, Worth Construction, has not confirmed the latest set of delays, it was revealed at a meeting of the project’s building committee this morning that the project’s latest completion date of May 31 will likely not be met.

Frank Mazza told the Post today there was no representative from Worth at the meeting to give an explanation for the latest delay on a project that was supposed to have been completed by last summer.

“What’s delaying them now? I don’t know,” Mr. Mazza said. “They keep saying there are issues that can’t get resolved, but we’ve been working to resolve those issues. We’re not holding them back. They’re holding themselves back.”

Ongoing communications issues between Worth and Swanke Hayden Connell Architects have been cited for many of the previous delays. URS was brought in as an independent mediator last year to try to settle these disputes, and while progress was made, representatives from Swanke Hayden appeared at Tuesday’s meeting to say issues remain unresolved and work is not being done quickly enough by Worth.
Parents have been clamoring for an ironclad date to be set in writing so people can be held responsible for missing deadlines. While the May 31 date had been used to try to assuage them, parents wanted more after so many previous Worth deadlines were missed. Mr. Mazza said the committee is looking at mid-June right now, but others have said it could take into July.

“Worth is still standing by its May 31 date, but we don’t think they’re going to be able to make it,” Mr. Mazza said. “Right now we don’t know what kind of revised date is going to be set.”

School board member Michael Bodson, who serves as the board’s liaison to the building committee, said the committee hasn’t given up on Worth meeting its May deadline. He said there are four issues the committee is concerned with: repairing a crack in the garage, installing metal panels, and inspections for a prematurely sealed floor and a wall. He said by saying the project might not be completed until June the committee is being “conservative.”

He said the committee still has reason to believe the project could be completed in the time frame Worth has given, but that depends on whether the company does what it promised. Two weeks ago, members of the committee toured the site, with First Selectman Peter Tesei and Joseph Pontoriero, owner of Worth, in attendance, and optimistic reports were given.

“Everybody is counting on Worth and the other venders to live up to their deadlines,” Mr. Bodson said. “We haven’t had a lot of good experiences in the past, but Mr. Pontoriero gave us his word that he would make the May 31 deadline barring any unforeseen circumstances out of his control, and we hope he is a man of his word.”

A representative from Worth is scheduled to appear at the next committee meeting Tuesday morning at 7:30 to give an update, but calls to Worth from this newspaper were unreturned. A worker on the project told the Post this week it is unlikely the project will be finished by May and projected there are about four months of work left including drywall and flooring, doors, hardware and some ceiling work.

“I’ve never seen a building like this where certain things are not being done,” said the source.

After the project is substantially completed, there still needs to be a space of several weeks to air the site of toxic chemicals used in the construction and make the building safe to be used by children.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done here and not enough labor,” the source said, echoing a concern from parents that not enough people have been assigned to the project.

The source also reports there is a mold problem at the construction site because of water that has leaked into the basement.

Parents have had concerns about mold, but it has been dismissed in the past as rumor. Mr. Mazza said Tuesday the building committee has never received any reports of mold and urged anyone who knows about it to speak to the committee.
“If someone were to say something to us about that, then we will check it out,” Mr. Mazza said. “There are so many rumors out there right now that it’s getting ridiculous.”

Parents in the Hamilton Avenue community have grown impatient with delays, especially since the recent discovery of mold inside the modular classrooms the students have been in since 2005. Since then, Hamilton Avenue students have been sent to other schools in the district for the rest of the year. The parents have demanded accountability, and several have called for the resignations of Mr. Mazza and Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg for not doing more to get the project completed.

Last year the building committee discussed removing Worth Construction from the project but decided not to because doing so would place the entire project on hold with likely litigation.