Summer Construction Work 2014

Parking Addendum:
To clear up any confusion generated by the construction communication that went out on Wednesday, please note the following about parking in the St. Botolph St. parking lot:

Beginning May 19, we will be opening spaces to the general public for a fee during business hours. Those of you with a green, blue or yellow hanging tag, will not have to pay. Yellow tag parking is valid for the hours printed on the tag. All parking will be on a first come, first served basis.

Please note too: On Monday May 19th there will be a couple of trucks parked in the St. Botolph lot where workers will be performing soil samples. Please use caution while driving and walking.  Be aware that some parking spots will be blocked off for short periods of time.

Here it comes! Summer construction work at NEC starts May 19 and continues through Sept. 10.

As you know, we try to schedule maintenance, repair, and other construction work during the summer when it will be less disruptive to school activities. And once again, we have a fairly long menu of tasks that need to be accomplished this year during the narrow window between spring and fall semesters.

As Ed Lesser explained at the all-staff meeting last week, NEC will begin two important projects in the 241 St Botolph Street building May 19:

1) Enabling Work
As a way of getting a jump start on the Student Life and Performance Center (Can you believe it? That project gets underway in summer 2015!), we’ve elected to complete some preparatory work this summer. Specifically, we will be relocating the existing rooftop HVAC mechanical equipment that serves Pierce Hall and other areas within the building. That equipment will be moved from the annex in the parking lot (see photo) to the top of 241 St. Botolph St. This will entail: cutting a new mechanical shaft extending from the rooftop of 241 St. Botolph to the ground floor adjacent to G-14 and boarding up a few windows on the western side of the building (facing the parking lot). Some office spaces will be relocated to facilitate this work.

2) Code work on 241 St. Botolph St
When the SLPC is completed, there will be several connections between the new building and 241 St Botolph St.  As a result, Boston Fire Department regulations necessitate the installation of a sprinkler system and an upgraded fire alarm system throughout the older building.

So how will this work impact all of us?

1) The project schedule for the enabling work calls for some demolition and installation of duct work to the west side (facing the parking lot) of the 241 St Botolph St building.  This work will begin in earnest on Monday, May 19th.

2) The fire alarm and sprinkler work calls for a schedule of two weeks per floor in the St. Botolph Building, beginning from the top floor and working down.  THERE WILL SOME PREPARATORY WORK IN THE HALLS AND STAIRWAYS OF THE BUILDING BEGINNING MONDAY, MAY 19TH.

3) It’s possible that the third floor could be shut down throughout the whole project.

4) There will be some impact on the parking lot because of equipment staging and the possible presence of cranes.  So, we may lose a few parking spaces and there may be some restrictions on access within the lot. That said, space will be available for daytime parkers at $15 @ day, first come, first served. Please do not park in any restricted or fire lanes or you risk being towed.

5) The door to the parking lot from the basement of 241 St. Botolph may be closed off temporarily.

6) To accommodate those for whom dust etc might be a problem, we will create a dust containment area around the construction zone and will test the air quality regularly.

7) Because 241 St. Botolph will be a construction site with numerous workers entering the building, it is essential that all staff, faculty and students wear their IDs so that we can ensure security. The security staff will be monitoring the entrance closely to make sure no unauthorized people come in.

Okay, much of this still sounds a bit vague in terms of exact dates, times, locations. How will you know what to expect and when? That’s where our summer Communications Plan leaps into the breach:

• Notifications will go out every two weeks (or more frequently, if necessary) with up-to-the-minute details.
• These will go out as emails to the whole school.
• These will be posted on the NEC Facebook page (www.facebook.com/necmusic )
• These will be posted on the TV monitors in JH and 241 St. Botolph.
• These will be posted on the News page of the NEC website.(www.necmusic.edu/News)
• These will be tweeted on the NEC Twitter channel (https://twitter.com/necmusic)
• Look for these notifications on Wednesdays so you can be prepared for the following week.

Questions or concerns? Contact Karen Kidd (617-585-1181), Mike Ryan (617-585-1187), or Ellen Pfeifer (617-585-1143).