By Rob Sample
On Tuesday, October 15, the Town of Marlborough held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction work it is doing at the Route 9W building housing the town’s Highway, Public Works, and Water Departments.
“When it’s finished, the façade will look much like our community center,” noted Marlborough Town Supervisor Scott Corcoran, who addressed a crowd of people from the Town Board, the three departments housed in the building, and the engineering and construction firms that are working on the project to overhaul the 75-year-old complex.
Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI) is the Albany-based firm hired by the town a year ago for services related to structural, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, as well as design of its plumbing and fire protection systems. Patrick McFadden, project manager, and Kaitlyn Coldwell, assistant engineer, represented GPI at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Alfandre Architecture is its subcontractor for architectural services while Barone Construction Group of Highland is the general building contractor for the project. Additional work will be performed by Candelas Plumbing of Goshen; DJ Heating and Air Conditioning, Marlboro; and Upstate Electric, New Windsor. The Highway Department’s own staff is also doing some of the work, which Corcoran said has saved taxpayer dollars.
As part of giving the building a new façade a 20-by-17-foot addition is going up at the front of the building, giving it a new entryway and office space. Temporary trailers have already been set up on the opposite side of the parking lot to house office personnel while the work is taking place.
“In the next few weeks, Central Hudson will decommission the natural-gas line to the building, which has given us issues over the years,” said Corcoran. That service will be replaced by propane, at roughly the same cost.
“We will be able to do some re-landscaping work outside the front of the building,” said Corcoran. “Because the gas line will be decommissioned, the no-dig rule will no longer apply.
The result will be an attractive country-look front to the building, which has never undergone any significant changes since it was first built. “We’re working to create some uniformity in the appearance of our town buildings,” said Corcoran.
The project is being financed by a bond measure passed earlier this year. The Town aims to do some future remodeling as well to its wastewater plant and aims to secure state grant money for this effort.