Huge Savings With Southington High Roof Project

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Plans to rebuild a significant segment of Southington High School's roof are going so well town officials recently hired a contractor at significantly less than budgeted.

The Southington Town Council last month voted unanimously to hire Manchester-based Silktown Roofing to replace a portion of SHS' roof at a cost of about $2.1 million, which is nearly $5 million less than what voters approved spending during a referendum during the 2022 elections.

In November 2022, voters said "yes" to spending $6.92 million for the SHS roof project, with a building committee created shortly thereafter to manage the project.

A little over a year later, the town's highest body officially hired the contractor to do the job.

School officials have said the roof project is necessary given the amount of wear-and-tear on SHS, as there is still a piece of SHS roof slated for replacement following a 2019 overhaul.

Southington Town Council Chairman Paul Chaplinsky Jr. pointed out the contract is tied to the November 2022 referendum question.

Councilman and roof committee member Christopher Palmieri said Silktown had performed work prior at SHS back in 2019 and it was the low-bidder this time as well.

Palmieri said bids were due last Nov. 17 and the committee met Nov. 27 to finalize a recommendation to the full council, with Silktown an obvious choice.

"The great news is they are the company that is responsible for the roof that was already repaired at Southington High School, so there is continuity with design work that is there," Palmieri said.

But, he said, taxpayers should come out in front regarding this project, as it will only be a fraction of what was approved at the polls in 2022.

"The better part is it is significantly under budget than what was planned," Palmieri said.

For the minutes of the Dec. 11 Southington Town Council meeting, click on this link.

From Dec. 9, 2022: 'Southington Forms Building Committee For SHS Roof Overhaul'