GUILFORD – Less than nine months after construction started on Guilford’s town hall and highway garage project, town officials are just weeks away from moving into their new facility.
According to Building Committee Chairperson Susan McIntyre, the town hall will be move-in ready by mid to late June. The highway garage won’t be far behind, with completion anticipated by the end of June or early July.
“I think we’re very fortunate to have the speed of completion that we had,” McIntyre said, adding that the project was largely on schedule.
In the town hall, contractors are working on punch list items, said Clerk of the Works Brian Treffeison. A few lighting fixtures, installing site lighting and getting the permanent power turned on are the largest of the remaining items. The site is currently operating with temporary power.
The space will be a vast improvement over the town offices current location in a rather dingy corner of the town’s highway garage which dates back to the early 1950’s. The spacious new facility has numerous windows which allow plenty of natural light.
The open floor plan includes a large open plan office at the front of the building where the town clerk, justices, assessor and supervisor will continue to share space. They’ll be joined by the town historian as well, who has not previously had a designated space. In the rear of the building is a large multipurpose space which will be used as both courtroom and boardroom, as well as an adjoining judge’s chamber, holding room and a small conference room/office. The floor plan also includes a staff break room, handicap accessible bathrooms and storage space for archived records.
“It’s got a nice aesthetic to it,” said McIntyre, commenting on the neutral walls, blue gray carpeting and wood trim throughout the new building.
The space will be furnished with the file cabinets and desks from the existing town hall, as well as additional furnishings which are currently in storage, the building committee chair explained.
While town officials are settling into their new space, the town highway department will still be waiting to get into theirs. “There is about a month lag between the buildings,” McIntyre explained.
According to Treffeison, much of what remains to be done is electrical. “The conduit is in place,” he said, but the wiring itself still needs to be run. Once that work is completed, the last of the flooring and ceiling will be installed.
The new garage has a total of five bays; three of which will be used for vehicle storage and the remaining two will be work space and storage. The two sides are divided by offices, a breakroom and a restroom. Above those offices, running the length of the building, is a storage mezzanine. The space can be accessed by stairs from the service bay side, and according to McIntyre, portions of the railing can be removed so that larger items can be placed there with a forklift.
A sizable parking lot is located behind the garage, where sand, salt and other materials will eventually be stored.
“It’s going to be a nice facility,” McIntyre said.
Not only has the project stayed on its timeline, but it is also within it’s budget.
“It’s nip and tuck, but we’re on budget,” reported McIntyre. The town received voter approval to raise the $1.65 million for the construction of the two buildings via a bond issuance. An additional $318,000 was set aside by the town to cover soft costs associated with the project.
Anything they’ve been able to do themselves during the course of the project, they have, said Clerk of the Works Brian Treffeison. This has included the town’s highway crew doing some of the work at the site, including painting.
“We did a lot of cutting right in the beginning,” McIntyre explained. But, thankfully, no major cuts have been necessary since the project got underway.
One of the areas kept to a minimum in order to keep costs down was landscaping. Once site work is complete, the area will be seeded, she explained, but they will hold off on planting shrubs or trees for the time being.
“We plan on being here for decades, so we can add on as time and resources allow,” she said.
According to McIntyre, a public grand opening event will likely take place in the early Fall after town officials have had a chance to “settle in” to the new facility.