Officials Choose Firm to Design NMS Roof

Kaestle Boos Associates, of New Britain, was chosen by the Public Building and Site Commission Tuesday to design a new roof for the entire Middle School complex on Queen Street.

Robert Mitchell, committee chairman, said Kaestle Boos has agreed to produce drawings for the new roof for $71,000, regardless of what the construction cost turns out to be. The committee determined the firm was the best of two considered for the job, he said.

Mitchell said the project calls for re-roofing the entire school, composed of several additions that stretch about a quarter of a mile from one end to the other. The area of the roof is 119,000 square feet or nearly three acres, he added.

The town has budgeted $4.2 million for the project, but that does not mean all of that sum will have to be spent, the chairman said.

After the plans are drawn, bids will be sought for a contractor to replace the roof before the 2011-12 school year begins next September, Robert Edwards, the committee member designated to oversee the project, said.

As part of the plan, the architectural firm will design the new roof so that air handling equipment can be replaced and photovoltaic panels may be installed later without having to cut holes in it, committee members said.

Dan Holmes, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Commission, said federal grants may be available for photovoltaic panels, which have been installed on other schools in the state, such as in Naugatuck and Plainville, to supplement electricity.

Kaestle Boos has said it would charge $51,000 for a structural design study to determine if school roof's existing steel framework will support such panels, Mitchell said.