Newington committee hears roughly $500,000 estimate to restore Chapman Street building

NEWINGTON, Conn. — The Town of Newington’s permanent municipal building committee reviewed a conditions assessment and preliminary cost estimate for the Chapman Street building at its July 16 meeting and directed staff to circulate TLB Architecture’s report to town leadership and contractors.

Chris, an architect with TLB Architecture, told the committee the full assessment will include architectural, structural, mechanical/electrical/plumbing, site/civil and hazardous-materials reports, plus a conceptual design and preliminary cost estimates that reflect state historic-preservation requirements. "That's sort of the contents of the report," Chris said, adding the firm will include a preliminary cost estimate and historical data.

Why it matters: Committee members said they want to protect the building’s historic envelope quickly and get hard bid numbers so they can determine whether supplemental funding or contingency transfers will be needed.

What the consultants presented: TLB broke the work into envelope/preservation items and fit-out items. Key cost allowances presented by Chris and Mike (TLB) included: - Site and civil work: an allowance of about $30,000 for paving, apron and grading to keep water away from the brick. - Hazardous-materials allowance: roughly $60,000 for removal and precautions related to lead paint, thermal insulation wrap and small PCB traces; consultants said the work is expected to be handled as contractor-collected waste rather than full hazardous-waste abatement in most areas. - Structural repairs: about $37,500 to address a steel-beam condition where wood framing is currently bearing the load, plus slab and parapet repairs. - Architectural envelope: an allowance near $175,000 for brick repointing, mortar replacement, historic exterior doors and window restoration. - Fire protection and plumbing: roughly $40,000 for a sprinkler allowance (TLB noted there may be code paths that reduce that requirement but that a dry system for cold storage would be costlier) and about $50,000 for under-slab plumbing to support a future ADA toilet room. - Mechanical: an allowance of about $20,000 to replace unit heaters and associated piping. - Electrical: roughly $40,000 to bring service, panels, distribution and fire alarm equipment to minimum code and to replace outdated wiring and fixtures.

Chris summarized those conservative envelope and repair allowances and said that, after typical contractor markups, insurance and general conditions, "you're looking at a half 1,000,000 for restoration" (TLB’s wording). He and Mike cautioned that the figure is conservative and that a fully loaded project cost could be higher once contractor bids and soft costs are included.

Options, alternates and fit-out: The consultants presented several interior layout options: a single-tenant plan of roughly 1,700 square feet plus a small ADA toilet room, and two-tenant schemes with a shared vestibule and shared restroom. TLB estimated interior fit-out costs separately at roughly $200–$300 per square foot, and noted interior fit-out is not included in the envelope estimate. Mike said the least expensive path is to keep the building single-tenant and defer some interior fit-out items as alternates (for example, postponing sprinkler installation or under-slab plumbing until a later phase).

Bidding and timing: TLB recommended bidding the project to a general contractor under a single contract rather than managing multiple specialty contracts. The architects said restoration documents could be ready to go to bid in about one month to six weeks and that a four-month construction period is realistic once work starts. Because masonry and roofing work are temperature-sensitive, TLB recommended aiming for spring construction to avoid winter premiums and quality issues.

Committee reaction and next steps: Committee members pressed staff to circulate the TLB report to the town manager, council leadership and on-call contractor lists and to explore whether any existing municipal equipment (for example, a generator from another town location) could be repurposed. Steve (chair) asked TLB to finalize and distribute the report; TLB agreed and said it could also include a fully loaded project estimate on request. Members discussed the likelihood that available line-item funds could be short of final bid prices and discussed routing supplemental funding or contingency transfers through council if needed.

Administrative items: The committee approved the June 4 meeting minutes by voice vote before moving to the Chapman Street presentation and adjourned after the TLB presentation.

What's next: TLB will finalize and send the assessment and cost numbers to town staff; the committee expects to use those documents to go to bid and return to the council with more detailed cost and funding options once contractor numbers are received.