12/10/08 Air Flow Problems Persist In The New 30 Million Dollar Hamilton Avenue School. No Wonder Mold Was Discovered In The Basement Two Months Ago.

Mold growth in air conditioning register duct.

District awaits Ham Ave go-ahead

Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter

As construction of the new Hamilton Avenue School remains on the verge of completion, the Board of Education is pressing for urgency to get the project wrapped up soon.

District officials are moving ahead with the plan to prepare for children to enter the new building, which is more than two years behind schedule, once school reopens Jan. 5, following the holiday break.....

.....Results of air flow tests in the music classrooms and certain bathrooms are expected this week. Building committee members said adjusting the fan will solve the air flow problem in the bathrooms.....

....Mr. Heagney, a land use attorney in town who has worked closely with the building department on the project, has said the inspectors are working carefully because they do not have a lot of confidence in the contractor, Worth Construction, or the architect, Swanke Hayden Connel, and they want to make sure everything is done correctly before signing off on it. Once the building department grants the TCO, Swanke is prepared to sign a letter of substantial completion for the project and it will then be officially turned over to the school board, he said....

.....Frank Mazza, building committee chairman, said concerns remain about the parking garage, but they won’t have any bearing on a TCO. The main remaining problems are to repair cracking on the second level, which the committee believes is being done incorrectly by Worth, and to install a silencer on a fan that activates when there is a certain level of carbon monoxide in the garage. Mr. Mazza said the fan would be on five to 10 minutes a day.

“This is a noise issue, not an air flow issue,” he said.....

.....Results of the district’s environmental testing, done in the building last Friday to insure its safety for children, have not yet come back.

The next building committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 a.m. in the Havemeyer Building, but information will be issued as soon as it is available to district officials.....

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