Wed Jun 28, 2006: WOW!!!!   When I alerted you last Monday that construction was beginning at the Mohegan Campus I guess I didn’t realize how fast this would actually proceed.  I know many of us were surprised and saddened on Tuesday to see so many of our beautiful trees being removed and so quickly and unceremoniously.  However when we had our regular construction meeting yesterday afternoon, it was clear in reviewing the construction plans that all of these removals were carefully planned and necessary to accomplish the significant construction that will be starting shortly.  We will soon be posting copies of the contract staging plans on selected college bulletin boards so that everyone can get a better idea of the overall scope of the project and planned timelines.   In the interim, these are the critical happenings you can expect in the next few weeks:

·         Tree removal will continue in the wooded area to the west of the college in preparation for construction of our temporary parking lots and to clear the area for the athletic playing fields to be built in these areas.

·         Our childcare playground is being relocated to the area near the Gazebo, and should be completed by the end of next week.

·         Starting tomorrow, the contractor will be installing construction fencing around work areas to the west of the college.  On the north, this construction fencing will attach from the driveway on Ox Hill to the edge of the garage, necessitating the loss of all staff and handicapped parking in the lot outside the gallery.  This fencing will also encompass all entrances to the building from the west, so signage will be posted on each of these doors shortly to advise about alternate routes of entry and exit.

·         Next week, construction will begin on the new Shop Wing for NTHS which will be located to the west of the college within the construction area just described.  The construction will begin with excavation for the building foundations and then installation of the steel framework will begin shortly thereafter.  This work is near to our building and will unfortunately be some of the noisiest of the entire project. The contractors will make every effort to minimize noise, but there is limit to what can be done in this phase of construction.

·         On Friday, some work will begin on the third floor of our main building to install steel reinforcing beams across the hallway to support the air conditioning penthouses on the roof.  Work will begin at the north end of the hall and move along as far as time permits. This phase of the work will be discontinued by August 18^th to allow us to get ready for fall semester classes.

·         Also within the next few days, the contractor will take control of the entire lower parking lot at the southwest side of the college.  This lot will be closed temporarily while the entire parking lot is lowered and expanded to a new lot for approximately 490 vehicles.  The new lot will only be of rolled gravel, but will be striped and suitable for snow removal during winter months.  One section near the building will be paved to accommodate the handicapped parking needs of the college.  While this parking lot renovation is in progress, temporary handicapped parking and drop off parking for Child Care users will be set up on the south side of the college.  This new parking area will be completed prior to the start of fall semester classes.

·         When this new parking lot has been completed and turned over to the college, the contractor will take over the 94 car parking lot just to the south of the college between the cafeteria and the bookstore.  This area will be enclosed with construction fencing and work will commence on the Gymnasium / Cafeteria Wing of NTHS.  This parking lot takeover and construction phase should occur sometime around mid-August.  More accurate dates will be provided when known.

It should be apparent from these descriptions that the contractors have been given very short time frames for completing the various stages of this project. For example, both the Shop Wing and the Gymnasium / Cafeteria Wing of the project are scheduled to be completed by August of 2007 at which time we will temporarily move most of our Mohegan Offices and many of our classes into these new buildings.  During these fast paced times, one of our most pressing problems will be to keep everyone advised of what is going on so that we can plan and work around the construction.  This will only be possible with your patience and assistance, and I thank you all in advance for your help and support in this area.  I am particularly concerned about communications to our students.  How do we keep them informed and involved in this transition?  We don’t have any effective means of mass communication right now to students so we need to consider multiple means of “passing the word”.  Your suggestions and assistance on this issue will be appreciated.  As always, if you have any questions about these or any other matters related to our construction projects, please do not hesitate to give me or Marilee a call.  Thanks.
--Joseph Anderson Jr., Dean of Administration, (860) 823-5202