News
December 2011
MERIDEN — Construction on an eight-classroom, $7.3 million addition at Hanover School for all-day kindergarten is under way as the Board of Education prepares itself for another difficult budget situation. City dignitaries dug into the soil Friday, as they launched the official groundbreaking of construction for the wing. They stressed the importance of implementing full-day kindergarten despite the economic circumstances. “It’s what is right and best for the kids,” said School Superintendent Mark D. Benigni. “All of the data and research supports all-day kindergarten.” What we are doing here today is important,” said School Building Committee Chairman Matthew C. Dominello. “The children are the future of our community.” It will not only educationally benefit all students that enter kindergarten, but it will raise the bar for every grade that follows,” he said. “We want to send a message that education is a top priority.” Actually implementing all-day kindergarten is a plan that is now in its third decade, after being a hot topic in the late 1990s and the formation of an all-day kindergarten committee in the 2000s. For Board of Education President Mark Hughes, it was a long time coming. “We have had some issues along the way,” Hughes said. “We have always been aggressive in moving the plan forward.” Once opened, the wing will be open for students in the Hanover district, as well as Casimir Pulaski School, which is already overcrowded. The rest of the district would continue to attend their local elementary school. November 2011
The new headquarters will be located in Farmington Connecticut, and has been designed by the architectural firm of Quisenberry Arcari Architects LLC., also of Farmington. The 9,000 square foot building features a stone veneer, a two story entrance tower and exposed timber trusses throughout the building. Construction began in October, and is expected to take 12 months to complete. September 2011
This year's event had a different feel, as a pair of steel beams from the World Trade were unveiled as part of the 9/11 Memorial Garden on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on America. The 18-foot-long pieces of the north face of the North Tower are mounted on columns at a 45-degree angle. Enfield Builders provided the labor necessary to construct the forms and pour the concrete for the foundations used to make the memorial a permanent reminder of the 9/11 tragedy. July 2011Enfield Builders Awarded Contract to Expand the High Watch Treatment Center in Kent Connecticut High Watch Recovery Center in Kent, established on Joy Farm in 1940 as the first 12-step recovery community in the world, broke ground on July 10th on a $2.2 million expansion of its offices, which will include a new medical building. The ceremonial ground breaking was held with Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams, state Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30th), and state Rep. Richard Smith (R-108th), among those on hand. "The addition of new units for nursing and therapy will further enhance our culture of providing a beautiful and comfortable environment for patient care and treatment," said Janina Kean, High Watch president and CEO. The current offices of the recovery center were once the barns for Joy Farm. A few renovations and 70-plus years later, "High Watch will soon have a state-of-the-art medical building to compliment our state-of-the-art treatment for drug and alcohol addiction," Ms. Kean said. While the medical building will directly impact the level of patient care and staffing, the new community conference center in the new space will also allow High Watch to expand its family program and public education outreach. The medical building will add 5,800 square feet of one-story construction, plus 4,300 square feet of renovation of existing areas. The expansion will not increase the number of beds at the facility, but will add services to residents, their families and the community. Jacunski Humes Arichitects, of Berlin designed the new space. The anticipated completion date is May 1, 2012.June 2011By Kim Velsey, Hartford Courant
LEGO has hired about 75 new employees at its North American Headquarters in the past year; bringing the total to 545 and is continuing to hire, brand relations director Michael McNally said. Since restructuring in 2003-04, the Danish toy company has experienced U.S. sales gains for six straight years, with dramatic gains during the recession. In 2010, LEGO exceeded $1 billion in U.S. consumer sales for the first time, and saw a 28 percent increase in consumer sales. "You can imagine that translates to needing back office support," said McNally. The jobs—there are currently about 25 openings—are full-time, permanent positions in human relations, sales and marketing, supply chain management and operations. As part of the restructuring, LEGO sold its buildings to an outside firm and leased back space. The conversion project transforms a 1970s manufacturing building into offices, meeting spaces, customer service call center that is expected to be staffed by as many as 100 employees during the busiest times of the year and a revamped model shop, where about a dozen employees design and construct models and displays. The building also includes a test store, where employees will experiment with prototypes for retail displays, window features, materials and in-store events, McNally said. He added that the decision to add the new feature stemmed from the company's growing retail business—LEGO now operates more than 50 stores across the country. The project—larger than the 80,000 square-foot addition anounced last summer—was designed by Moser Pilon Nelson Architects in Wethersfield and completed by Enfield Builders, a local contracting firm. Construction costs; not including design and furnishings, totaled $7 million, said Dennis Brennan of Enfield Builders. "They needed the space very quickly," he said. The design incorporates natural light with big windows and skylights, Moser Pilon Nelson said, with 22-foot trees in an indoor atrium and a 20-foot tall glass wall on the east side of the building with automated drapes that open and close depending on the location of the sun. Ten years ago the company's future was much shakier. In the 1990s, the company employed 1,200 people in Enfield, before it moved industrial operations to Mexico and other locations, shearing the local workforce. In the early 2000s, LEGO embraced "lifestyle" products, launching LEGO clothing, video games, movies and theme parks. The company did everything in-house, including hiring an entire staff of video game developers, said McNally—neglecting the plastic bricks construction sets that made the company famous. Financial distress-especially the $188 million operating loss the company reported in 2003—prompted the company to regroup and adopt a back-to-basics focus on the plastic bricks. Tie-ins with the Harry Potter series, "Star Wars" series and "Indiana Jones" series helped drive sales. Click here to view the original article. April 2011Enfield Builders, Inc. of Enfield Connecticut was awarded the contract for the renovation of the lower level of the Newington Town Hall to make way for the Transition Academy for older high school students with special needs. Two rooms in the east wing of town hall, where the planning and building departments were until recently, will be renovated for the program. The planning and building departments have been relocated to temporary offices on the lower level of town hall, near the police department, where permanent offices will eventually be created. The entire project is estimated to cost $1.3 million. The Transition Academy is scheduled to be completed in time for the next school year and the new engineering and building offices will be ready later in the fall, Town Manager John Salomone said. Money for the project is coming from a number of sources, including a $278,000 federal grant, $220,000 in federal stimulus money, $170,000 from the education capital improvements budget and $380,000 from the town's capital improvements budget. Kaestle Boos Architects of New Britain is the architect for the project. November 2010
The Combat Pistol/Military Police Qualification Course is a dual purpose facility and is used to train and test soldiers on the skills necessary to detect, identify, engage, and defeat stationary personnel targets in a tactical array and to provide realistic and effective Military Police marksmanship training with 9mm, .38 caliber, and .45 caliber pistols. The Range consists of a 16-lane, fully contained, 25-Meter Zero Range used to satisfy the MRF Range training requirements. When completed, the range will consist of 8 Firing Lanes, 56 Stationary Infantry Targets, 8 Stationary Silhouettes, In addition, the project includes the construction of three Ammunition Breakdown Buildings and two Control Towers. Architect for the project is the Benham Companies of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The $8 Million Dollar project is due to be completed in April 0f 2011. October 2010
The new Sherman Library will retain its charm, special ambience and historic significance as well as:
Budgeting for the project will begin immediately. Construction is slated to begin in March of 2011. August 2010
June 2010Enfield Builders was named Construction Manager for an office renovation project for Lego Systems of Enfield, CT. The project involves the conversion of currently vacant industrial warehouse space into Class A office space occupied by various departments within the company. The new space will be occupied by, among other things, Lego’s Human Resources Department, a call center, Lego’s finance department, as well as their modeling department. The project is expected to begin in August, and take 6 months to complete. May 2010
Enfield Builders was named the General Contractor for the new senior center in 2009. The 40,000 sf building was designed by Quisenberry and Arcari Architects from Farmington, CT The building features computer rooms, exercise facilities, a great hall for meetings and presentations, a full commercial kitchen, and specialty shops for its members such as a barber shop/hair salon and general store. The total cost of the project was $8,000,000 and it was completed in 12 months. March 2010Enfield Builders was recently awarded the contract for the renovation and addition to the Hayden Station Fire House in Windsor Connecticut. The new building will be constructed with an all brick exterior, blending in with the original building, constructed in the 1960’s The entire structure will incorporate sky lighting and more energy efficient systems. The construction will provide adequate training and vehicle storage space, update mechanical and electrical systems, provide more equipment storage and men’s and women’s locker facilities. The Windsor Fire Company #2 (Hayden Station Fire Company) was formally founded September 28, 1950. It is a volunteer fire station, with approximately 30 members. The architect for the project is Lawrence Associates of Manchester, CT.
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Enfield Builders Inc. was recently named General Contractor for the new Combat Pistol/Military Police Qualification Course (CP/MPQC) and 25 Meter Zero Range in East Haven, CT. The primary purpose of this project is to construct a Combat Pistol/Military Police Qualification Course and a 25 Meter Zero Range (25M ZERO) at the East Haven Rifle Range in East Haven, Connecticut.
Enfield Builders has been named Construction Manager for the Sherman Connecticut Library Building Project. The new building will blend with the historic setting and provide the community with a modern library to allow for today’s needs and tomorrow’s future growth. . The library including the main floor, lower level and refurbished barn will be 11,991 sq. ft. including renovation of the existing library and our historic barn. The new addition will be 6,325 sq. ft.
On August 13, the town of New Milford held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the new Community Ambulance headquarters building located in New Milford, Connecticut. Several hundred people were in attendance including the mayor, town officials, and residents of New Milford and surrounding towns.. The new 10,000 square foot facility, designed by Silver Petrucelli architects out of Hamden Connecticut, is more than twice the size of the previous facility. The new building has garage space for six ambulances, a community room which can be leased out for lectures and private functions, a board room for staff meetings, bunk rooms for men and women, new lavatories, a decontamination room where volunteers can get clean after an emergency call, and a 4,000 sf training room. For years, the association has had to rent off site facilities for training exercises and meetings. The new facility came in under budget, and was completed in 12 months.
Enfield Builders, Inc. was on hand for the ribbon cutting at the new Groton Senior Center in Groton Ct. The ground breaking for the building, completed under budget and nearly 4 months ahead of schedule, was attended by hundreds of senior center members and local townspeople. The ribbon cutting was followed by refreshments and tours of the new building.
