WESTFIELD – The doors of the Park Square Pavilion are off, the lights are lit, and the final inspection was completed at the end of the school year. The students and staff of Westfield Technical Academy are proud of the job they did.
“It’s done,” said Peter Taloumis, WTA Career Tech Ed Director. “They just took the doors off. They’ll keep it open, and close it up for the winter.” He said the heaters will be installed by an outside vendor for the winter, because there is no HVAC shop at the school.
“The students are excited. It’s there for the community to enjoy, and it will be there forever,” he added.
Taloumis said altogether about 68 students, starting with the Class of 2013 through the Class of 2016 designed, estimated, built and wired the structure.
He spoke about the excellent job that was done. In installing the roof, for example, which the students built from plans, there was no testing the fit. It was lifted by a crane, with a 3/16” tolerance.
Taloumis gave a lot of credit to the lead teachers, Brian Falcetti in construction, and Gary Martineau, the electrical wiring lead teacher. He said Falcetti has written down the names of all the students who participated, and hopes to commemorate them.
“Nothing has been created yet, but we have the names of all the students who worked on it,” he said.
Taloumis said projects like this are good for the school, to keep it relevant, and to help the students become career-ready. He said he is looking forward to what next year will bring at the Technical Academy.
“There’s a lot of forward momentum,” he said. “I’m excited.”
