WEST WINDSOR: Interior work progresses at new senior center

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
Interior work in progress at WW senior center
Kristine SnodgrassStaff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — As the weather warms, construction crews are performing interior work on the addition to the township senior center, which is scheduled for completion late this summer or fall.
   Work on the $1.6 million addition to the facility, located in the municipal center, began last year and has been ongoing, said Robert Hary, township director of human services.
   Interior work to offices, electric and plumbing lines, and renovations to the existing building are currently under way, he said. Completion of construction in late summer or early fall is the goal, but not the focus, Mr. Hary said.
   ”Our focus is we want to make sure we do it right, not rush through the project,” he said.
   The makeover of the center has been in the works for several years. The current project, which received $650,000 in state and county funding, is the first of two planned phases of improvements.
   This phase of construction will add about 2,700 square feet to the 5,000-square-foot facility. It will include five additional classrooms for computers, arts and crafts, exercise, language and other activities. It also will include a health suite, he said, and updates to offices of the center’s staff.
   Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the addition is necessary to keep serving a growing number of seniors using the facility.
   ”The number of participants just kept building up and we didn’t have enough room,” he said. “Sometimes they had to use the kitchen to teach painting!”
   Mr. Hary said steadily increasing numbers of daily participants meant the center outgrew its ability to provide services.
   ”We wanted to ensure we keep seniors in town and don’t have them exit because we don’t provide them active service,” Mr. Hary said.
   The township awarded a contract last summer to Tri-Form Construction for $1.2 million for the work. However, council has since approved four change orders.
   The first was approved in October and included work on telephone and electric lines for an additional $7,839. A second and third change order, approved together in December, totaled $11,621.85 and included the installation of two exit lights and compact fill material for the building’s foundation.
   The fourth, approved last month, included the installation of siding and other exterior work to the new and existing parts of the building, at a cost of $84,770, Mr. Marion said.
   Mr. Hary said the change orders had no impact on the continuing construction.
   ”These change orders had nothing to do with any mistakes made,” he said. “They’re just things that come up within the normal course of whenever you do a project like this, and they are within budget.”
   Township officials originally budgeted about $1.5 million for the entire project, consisting of both phases, but bids came in nearly a million dollars over budget. As a result, in 2007 the project was broken into the two phases.
   A start date for the second phase, which includes more classrooms and an activity room, has not been determined, Mayor Hsueh said.
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