The following information was provided by project management firm Vertex:
The Watertown High School project team continues to be hard at work progressing the demolition of the existing high school and installing new foundations in preparation for our first steel deliveries in January.
As you can see from the picture above taken from across Common Street at the corner of Spring Street, there continues to be structure remaining at that corner. Between recent challenging weather conditions, and a decision to use more “handwork” for demolition of areas closest to the cemetery and the street, we are progressing a little slower than we had hoped. With that said, we have agreed that the Contractor can continue with onsite demolition Saturday 12/30/23 within normal working hours allowed by the City, which is 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
There will not be any loading out of materials so the Community will still have the holiday reprieve from trucking. All normal trucking and construction activities will resume on Tuesday 1/2/24 at 7 a.m.
We appreciate your continued patience and support as we work together to bring the new Watertown High School to fruition. There will be a lot of exciting updates to share with you in 2024!
I appreciate Vertex taking care to protect the cemetery and street during demolition at the modern addition end of WHS. However, does this mean that each of the surface bricks has to be jackhammered off individually? That’s how it feels and sounds to neighbors. I thought they might be doing it so they could sell the bricks instead of trashing them; a good idea. However, if this process is going to take another month, or more (given what has been removed so far), it might not be worth it to the surrounding neighborhood. The noise sometimes feels as if it is next door, and sometimes a constant low level battering. I breathe and thrum with the pattern and can’t imagine how the workers feel. I am grateful for the intermittent breaks. Is there a better way of dismantling the building safely, economically, and sound for the environment?
Barbara, Spring Street at Marshall