Manchester committee: modular classrooms near closeout; Beach Street project remains on hold

Mark Lenfest, presenting for Left Field, told the Committee on Joint School Buildings on Jan. 14 that work on the district’s Priority 1 projects is progressing, with remaining modular-classroom closeout tasks expected to finish in the coming weeks and Hillside and McLaughlin (Group 1) moving toward 75% construction documents and a reconciliation estimate.

The update detailed recent fixes to the modular classrooms, including replacement of roughly 10 thermostats and a mechanical start-up procedure with Triumph that the presenter said “rooted out the problems,” and training plans for district maintenance staff to operate newly installed Bard units. Lenfest said, “we feel very confident that we'll be wrapping up all issues regarding the modulars in the next coming weeks.”

Why it matters: the Priority 1 work covers two sets of middle schools (Group 1: Hillside and McLaughlin; Group 2: Parkside and Southside) and temporary modular classrooms that have been the subject of public and aldermanic concern. The committee’s update also clarified that the Beach Street School project is on hold and no district dollars are being spent on that site while the Board of Mayor and Aldermen reviews the matter.

Committee discussion and key details

Chairman John O'Connell and committee members asked for clarification on scope, schedule and…