No Delay for Old Middle School Demolition Bids

By Adam Swift

Despite a misprint in a recent legal ad, there will not be a delay in the bidding process for the demolition and abatement of the old middle school.

The old middle school is being demolished to make way for the new $38 million fire station on Pauline Street. While the school itself will be demolished, the gymnasium and ice rink will remain in place.

“There is a lot of talk about the misprint in the legal ad, that was a mistake,” said Town Manager Tony Marino at last week’s town council meeting. “Obviously, it was copy and pasted from the wrong segment of an old advertisement that the OPM (owner’s project manager) had, so we apologize for that. We did get the corrected one out last week.

“Rest assured, all the information on the project blog and the documents that were out, nothing mentioned the rink or the gym.”

Council President Jim Letterie said that when the legal ad was in the Transcript several weeks ago looking for bids for the demolition of the old middle school and auditorium, it also said the town was looking for bids for the demolition of the hockey rink and the gym.

“That did not go over well for a lot of us, and it was changed,” said Letterie. “It did not affect the date, we had a walk through last Friday (Sept. 12), there were several firms represented there.”

The bids for the demolition and abatement are due to the town on Friday, Sept. 26.

There is a firehouse building committee meeting scheduled for Monday, Sept. 29 to review those bids, Letterie said.