The rundown corner of Route 37 and 39 in New Fairfield, CT, is getting a completely new facelift with the help of R.V. Noad Construction Inc., of the neighboring town of Litchfield.
This busy intersection used to be the location of the nationally recognized Candlewood Playhouse, Grand Union and approximately six small retail and service establishments. As the businesses and cultural center faltered and closed, the buildings were boarded up and marked for “no trespassing.”
With the continued expansion of Fairfield County, the position of this vacant land became all the more viable for a prosperous retail center. It proved an ideal site for the next Connecticut Shaw’s Supermarket and parking lot. The new 59,000-sq.-ft. grocery store will open its doors in November in time for the holiday season ahead. Charter Realty of Greenwich owns the property that also is expected to include a 7,500-sq.-ft. retail space.
Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc., a corporation headquartered in Bridgewater, MA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J. Sainsbury plc, of the United Kingdom. Shaw’s operates 126 supermarkets in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Vinnie Noad, president of the 15-year-old site and demolition company, said that work began in December 2002. The first priority was to bring down the existing buildings including the Grand Union shopping plaza and 40-year-old, 600-seat theater that was approximately 10,000-sq.-ft. in size.
For demolition, Noad relied on the John Deere 330LC 75,000-lb. (34,019 kg) excavator and Genesis Demo-Pro 650 processor rented from New Millennium Rentals, based in New Windsor, NY, near Newburgh. “The equipment supplied by Peter Menner’s New Millennium Rentals was available right when needed and was also in the best condition possible to get the job done on time,” said Noad. “We had seen regular New Millennium Rentals advertisements in Construction Equipment Guide and followed up.”
Menner established his company, New Millennium Rentals, in 2000 because he saw the need for a rental distributor who offered excavators with specialized demolition and environmental attachments. His firm rents a full line of excavators ranging from 35,000 to 75,000 lbs. (15,875 to 34,019 kg). All are equipped with JRB couplers and two-way auxiliary hydraulics. The company also inventories a large selection of attachments, such as breakers, grapples, shears and pulverizers. It currently services the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Despite very heavy snowfalls and cold temperatures, the buildings were demolished in about four weeks. Most of the 400 tons (360 t) of steel were taken to the scrap yard for recycling. Because the site is not close to a residential area and does not obstruct traffic, work could proceed as best as possible between the carting away of heavy snows.
Noad primarily used four Hitachi excavators and a New Holland 555 skid steer loader to complete the demolition work. The Litchfield company has a variety of equipment from companies such as Case, Kawasaki, Hitachi, Volvo and others. Although the land was not rocky, which can often be the case in Connecticut, Noad had to put in 6 ft. of gravel fill, approximately 30,000 cu. yds. (22,936 cu m), in the area of the new Shaw’s to raise the level of the building foundation.
Before site work could be completed, the R.V. Noad team had to remove contaminated soil from an area that once housed a dry cleaning establishment and make sure that wetland policies were followed. The playhouse bordered a wetlands area.
Noad is currently waiting to hear on his bid to complete the second part of this project to further prepare the site for the Shaw’s facility. This would include removing and installing a new septic system, adding retaining walls and storm drainage, putting in a 400-car parking lot and adding site lighting.
There will be a few challenges to this aspect of the job, added Noad, including keeping up with the incoming water while working close to the water table and driving piles into unstable layers of peat moss. As usual, however, he looks forward to meeting these.
For more information, call 877/667-1998 or visit www.newmillenniumrentals.com.
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