WHITMAN – The town’s new Department of Public Works building, now under construction at 100 Essex St., has had to overcome quite a few obstacles to reach the construction phase, including the need to go before town voters twice before winning approval.
So, it was almost fitting that Monday’s topping off ceremony faced a challenge, too – rain and rapid progress with the construction. But there was a break in the weather, as well as a couple of tweaks to the event that helped.
“It’s a tradition in construction that, when you reach the top of the steel, you’re topping off the building – you get to sign [a girder],” said architect’s reppresentative Greg Yanchenko. “Because the steel was moving so quickly, which is great, we will be signing the bollard out front and we’ll still be able to memorialize [progress] on this building.”
Speakers gathered in the DPW Administration building, where town officials and DPW employees heard congratulations on the event before enjoying refreshments, and officials were then invited to go out front to participate in another slight break with tradition.
They took turns signing a safety bollard, which will later be covered before one end is sunk into the ground outside the new building.
“As you al know, the town’s worked for several years to get this building,” Yanchenko said. “We’re finally moving along and right now we’re on pace to get done next July. … Over the next month or so, you’ll probably see things flying.”
Panels and masonry will go up, then it might seem like nothing happens for another three months as they do all the infrastructure, Yanchenko said.
“Then you’ll come back and you’ll see the building that’s all boarded,” he said. “It’s just the nature of construction.”
He recognized past and present members of the building committee and DPW staff and employees, asking some officials to say a few words to mark the occasion.
State Sen. Mike Brady. D-Brockton, thanked officials for the invitation to attend.
“You have a good team in the town of Whitman that work well together,” he said.
“I’m so happy to be here,” State Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, R-Abington, said. “It was a long few months. We’ve all kind of know those few months, but … some great work was done, so congratulations on the new building. I know it’s well-needed and overdue.”
“It has been a long time coming,” said Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski. “A lot of people have done a lot of work on this and it’s a really special thing.”
Among the past and present building committee members attending were Chair Kevin Cleary – who also chairs the DPW Commissioners; Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter; former Town Administrator Frank Lynam; Dennis Smith; Rick Anderson; DPW Superintendent Bruce Martin; Dan Salvucci, who is also vice chair of the Select Board; owner-project managers Michael Vienna and builder’s project superintendent Peter Hadden of Page Construction.
“It’s great to see it, now that we can actually see the building,” Cleary said. “I appreciate everyone’s hard work that went into getting it at this stage – I don’t want to say the easy part id left, we’ve still got to finish the building. … But I think that between the years of trying to get the funding and trying to get it passed in town and then, the months that it took us to finalize all that, I’m hoping that was worse than anything we have left, and we’ll get this thing built and get it to our crews, who are here.
“The ones who really deserve it … are the workers,” Cleary said.