Gymnasium Project

Update: Week of January 28, 2013

Much of the past two weeks has been spent on interior work. Structural steel reinforcements have been completed throughout the building, metal studs have been installed, interior walls have been drywalled and masonry work has been completed in several sections of the renovation project.

The heating system was shut down for a couple of days to allow for installation of new equipment and renovation of the boiler. Since the heating system has been reconnected, duct work has been extended throughout most of the building and tested.

On the exterior portion of the building, windows have been installed, metal framing and spray-foaming operations have been completed.

Update: Week of January 7, 2013

With the extreme cold we have experienced in the past couple of weeks, much of the construction work has moved inside.  There has been major progress in the boys' and girls' locker rooms as well as the team rooms and the space for the game officials.

Concrete for the second floor has been poured and the I-beams for the ramp have been installed. The new classrooms on the second floor are nearing structural completion. On the first floor, the weight room and the new cardio room are taking shape.

On the outside, workers are installing corrugated metal siding in places where the brick veneer has been applied.

The gym renovation remains on schedule for completion in April 2013, especially if the sunny, warmer weather continues to hold for a while. Principal Brian Pickering and administrative assistant Sherry Nixon are excited that the project remains on target.

Update: Week of December 24, 2012

Hutter Construction has continued to work Saturdays and will work through the holidays to offset time that will be lost due to inclement weather, as winter storm "Euclid" becomes the first major snow storm due to hit the East coast.

Nearly 80 percent of the of the second floor has been framed. Brickwork has been completed on three sides of the existing building. Only the north wall and the new additions remain to be done with brick veneer.

The roof joints over the team locker areas have been reinforced and welding continues on the trusses that hold up the new second floor inside the building. Additional plumbing hardware for the team shower stalls has arrived and awaits to be installed.

Progress on the gymnasium project is being reported in the Monadnock Ledger Transcript. See the article here.

Update: Week of December 10, 2012

Four new HVAC units have been delivered and installed on the roof of the existing gym building. The roof units are in the process of being connected to interior duct work. Structural steel work has been completed on both additions on the north end of the gymnasium.

Interior walls have been erected for the second floor team locker rooms.

Duct work is being installed on the interior to handle HVAC requirements and plumbing hardware for the locker rooms is ready to be installed.

Sprinkler work has been completed to a large extent, and ceiling work is being done in the gym, including the installation of sound-absorbing ceiling tiles. New electrical conduits have been installed in the gym to handle the new, expanded power needs.

Update: Week of November 26, 2012

In anticipation of worsening weather conditions, there has been quite a lot of activity these past couple of weeks on the site of the gymnasium project. All site work has been completed to rough grade for the winter months; some of the site work will have to be suspended for the duration of the cold season.

Roof truss and joint reinforcements have been made on the existing building. The outside walls have been prepped for spray-on insulation. Insulation has been applied to a good portion of the existing building, and brick veneer has been applied to parts of the outer eges of the gymnasium. 

Grace Electric has completed conduit work, pulling major power feeds from the high school to the existing gym building and its new additions. Inside the existing gymnasium, plumbing rough-in work has been completed in anticipation of interior partitions and the installation of stalls in the locker rooms.

Update: Week of November 12, 2012

The project is proceeding at a good pace, despite the cold snap we have been experiencing. All the underground work is now complete, refilled, and graded. The rebar concrete floors in the gym additions are being poured.  Aluminum support girts for the metal siding and brick veneer are being prepped in the old gym while insulation foam is being applied to the outside walls. In the interior of the building, electricians are bringing in major power feeds from the main campus.

Update: Week of November 5, 2012

Hurricane Sandy did not significantly delay progress on the gym project. The rough-in for all of the plumbing in the new building is almost completed, subfloor plumbing is being finalized in the new addition floor slabs. Electricians are surveying the high school to bring in additional power to the gym and its additions.

Update: Week of October 22, 2012

Substantial progress has been made on both the exterior and the interior of the project. All demolition work is now complete, except for a few spot locations. Most of the site has been backfilled and is being graded.

The outside walls have been waterproofed and prepared for the addition of brick veneer. Sewer connections for sanitary waste have been extended between the old and new portions of the gymnasium.

The rectangular excavations in the main hallway outside the old gym are being prepared for buttresses to hold up the second floor. On the second floor, the boys' and girls' team rooms are taking shape, along with the officials' changing rooms.

Update: Week of October 15, 2012

On the exterior portion of the project, the foundation for the northeast and northwest addition have been poured. Two engineers inspect the newly completed elevator foundation. The interior photographs depict the areas of the future weight and cardio rooms and the boiler room/HVAC area.

September Update

The demolition proceeds on schedule at first but then runs into an expected problem: contamination by lead and asbestos in some areas around the old gym. Lead removal and asbestos abatement have to be done very carefully, and under strict EPA guidelines.

While that time-consuming work is undertaken, the demolition of the ceiling continues in the gym with scissor lifts. Old mechanicals (HVAC, plumbing, and electrical) are deinstalled throughout the whole building, and old masonry walls are being removed.

Hutter Construction is careful to recycle whatever materials lend themselves to being reused. Even old concrete is turned over to recyclers who turn it into new granulate.

August 2012: The Project Begins In Earnest

The gymnasium renovation and expansion project begins in earnest. Here is a last look at some of the old interior facilities, including the shared teachers' and coaches' room, the weight room, and the basketball court. Soon, the outside footprint of the building will look very different. But the first step, to be completed in the month of September, is demolition.