District pauses COH window replacements after asbestos discovery; stadium, fields near turnover

Palumbo Group project manager Bill Devine told the Board of Education that the district’s first phase of capital work is complete and that much of phase 2 — including the new stadium, track and artificial turf — is on track for handover in mid‑August, while an asbestos discovery in an elementary school has forced a change to the window replacement schedule.

The finding matters because it paused exterior work at Cornwall Old Heights (COH), required abatement, and prompted the project team to limit how many windows are removed at a time to allow classrooms and other spaces to be returned for the school year.

“We are complete” with phase 1, Bill Devine said, and he described the stadium work and field punch list: the district is aiming to turnover the stadium on Aug. 15 while continuing to complete punch-list items. Devine said the tennis courts, new bleachers and press box, scoreboard fiber terminations and stadium lighting are in the finishing stages, and the ball fields had been leveled and seeded.

Devine described the COH window problem this way: when crews removed the outer aluminum windows they found an older wood window system behind them with caulk that tested positive for asbestos-containing material (ACM). “We found an old wood system behind it,” Devine said. “When we took the old window out, behind it was the old, old window from a 100 years ago. We had the material…tested…and they came back hot.”

The project team brought in an abatement contractor and limited removals to a portion of the building at a time. Devine said the professional recommendation from Palumbo Group and the district’s architects was to “stop removing any additional windows,” finish the portions that are already open, complete interior and exterior work so classrooms can be returned to the district, and schedule the remaining half of the window replacements for 2026.

A district staff member involved in the coordination told the board the decision was “a conservative approach because we’re looking at the education of students” and emphasized the need to return usable classrooms, furniture and equipment on schedule.

On bathrooms and other work, Devine reported Lee Road bathrooms are roughly 95% complete and that COH bathrooms were scheduled to start tile work the coming Wednesday; he said the project team expected the COH bathrooms to be complete by the start of school but acknowledged they would “go to the wire.” The middle-school gym mechanical system and locker rooms had large portions of mechanical and ductwork completed, and the project team had started up the new gym air-handling unit.

The district and its contractors flagged several logistics and sequencing issues the board discussed, including protection of interior finishes during abatement, temporary shading or window coverings where permanent shades could not yet be installed, and the need for equipment and custodial turnover work (desk and floor waxing, casework reinstallation) before classrooms reopen.

The board did not take a formal vote on the window schedule during the presentation; the transcript captures the project team’s recommendation and the district’s plan to finish the remaining windows in 2026.

The board’s facilities director, Walter Moran, and Palumbo Group staff Mike de Veil assisted the presentation and fielded questions on schedule risk and contractor coordination.

The district will share updated photographic progress and a slide deck with the board. The project team said they will continue weekly owner‑architect‑construction manager coordination meetings and produce regular progress reports as the work continues.