Dan Pallotta, president of P3 Incorporated, leads, left-right, Robert Todisco, assistant project manager, Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik, Tammy Tafft, Westfield purchasing director, Jim Laverty, Westfield Vocational-Technical High School director, and Jeff Daley, city advancement officer, during a tour of the Westfield Vocational-Technical High School yesterday. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik toured the renovation of Westfield Vocational Technical High School this week and said the progress was “amazing.”
“They started June 1 and I cannot believe how much they have accomplished,” Knapik said.
The renovation includes replacement of windows and boilers, including asbestos abatement, as well as new roofs, brick wall repair, and work to the existing cupola. The work, which is funded through a state energy reimbursement grant, is being done by P3 Innovation with Dan Pallotta serving as the city’s project manager.
The city has been awarded a $12 million Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) green energy grant to replace boilers, windows and roofs at five school buildings. The city has also initiated a $17 million energy program which complements the MSBA work at school buildings and also includes improvements to other municipal buildings.
The MSBA grant, which reimburses the city at a 62 percent rate, includes the installation of 13 boilers in five school buildings, as well as replacement of windows and two sections of the roof of Westfield Vocational-Technical High School.
Window replacement began in the upper campus, which is the former Westfield High School earlier this month. Knapik said the new windows will actually bring out the traditional charm of the building.
“It’s still in the beginning phase but the windows are one-third done,” Knapik said.
Knapik was joined on the tour this week by City Advancement Officer Jeffrey Daley, WVTHS Principal James Laverty, a project manager from Siemans, P3 President Dan Pallotta and other P3 representatives.
Siemens, was hired to conduct an energy audit and proposed options to increase energy efficiency and reduce the municipal energy footprint; and Tighe & Bond was hired to serve as the city’s engineering consultant for the MSBA Green Energy grant program, linking the $12 million Green Energy project with the work to be completed through the proposed $17 million bond.
Knapik said that funds remaining in a bond sold to replace roofs at Highland and Southampton Road elementary schools last summer will be used to being the design and engineering effort for roof replacement at the sister schools of Paper Mill and Munger Hill, with the actual roof reconstruction slated for next summer.
Knapik said that the city will be selling $14.5 million for the combined MSBA and EMS work.
Siemens has recommended switching most of the boilers from steam systems to hot water systems because the energy required to heat water to 140 degrees is much lower than the energy required to convert water to steam.
That conversion will require additional work, such as replacing pipe lines and installing ventilation systems with individual climate control systems for each classroom, work that is not covered by the MSBA grant program.
Knapik said he was impressed with the work so far, which should be nearly complete by the opening of school.
“When it’s done, it will be impressive,” he said.
