A group of students in the carpentry class at Westfield Vocational-Technical High School apply the finishing touches to the structural frame of the cupola roof that will be located on the pavilion on the City Green. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The Park Square Pavilion construction is about to get off the ground, literally, when Westfield Vocational Technical High School students begin erecting the steel skeleton next week.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said that students have already constructed the elaborate truss system which will support the roof of the structure.
“It was supposed to take quite a while, but they got it together in a couple of days,” Knapik said.
Brian Falcetti, the WVTHS carpentry shop lead teacher, said the truss system was constructed off-site then brought to the school, where students have been assembling it.
“The students are fitting as many parts on it in the shop so when it’s assembled it can be lifted into place,” Falcetti said. “We still have support parts coming that need to be put into place.”
Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy said he anticipates work to erect the pavilion will begin next week.
“The steel is in, so I think that next week they could start setting the steel,” Figy said. “The school is coordinating all of that.”
Falcetti said that the city will install a temporary fence to enclose the staging area and that the steel will be moved to Park Square Green next week. The steel frames for the doors and windows are 10-feet wide and 16-feet high.
“This is a significant building, roughly 700 square feet. It’s an octagon 28-foot across,” Falcetti said. “I don’t think people understand the size of this building. It’s 26-feet to the peak of the roof and then a six-foot high copula will be placed, so the building’s height will be 32 feet.”
Falcetti said that current plans are to erect the steel and enclose the building for the summer.
“You don’t want the wooden trusses exposed to the sun and weather over the summer,” he said. “The goal is to get the steel up and enclosed by the end of May, then put the roof on next September and do the finish work.
“Getting the engineering figured out has been the toughest part,” Falcetti said.
