Kiwanis Oval Project Remains on Schedule

A determined construction company and favorable weather conditions this summer have kept the nearly $2 million Kiwanis Oval project on schedule for completion by the first week of September.

It may actually might been done slightly sooner, Mario Bifalco, Caldwell's director of public works, said Monday.

"I was most concerned with weather," Bifalco said. "I got to figure that since they started, they probably lost maybe one day—maybe a day and a half."

According to Bifalco, contractors and sub-contractors of Applied Landscape Technologies, which was , for the project, have worked as many as six days a week at certain points of the construction and have had as many as 20 workers on site at one time.

"There are always two or three different trades here all at one time," Bifalco said. "They keep things going. The owner of the company is a no-nonsense type of guy. He wants what he wants. You stay and you get it done. You don't leave until it's finished."

The joint project between the Borough of Caldwell, Township of West Caldwell, Caldwell College and grants secured by Essex County has hit few setbacks during the nearly two months of construction, Bifalco said.

According to Bifalco, there was an issue when the light fixtures were being installed, but the dimensions of the holes were changed to resolve the problem.

The project has also received the additional oversight during critical junctures that was requested by Glenn Beckmeyer, Caldwell's borough engineer. Each of the municipalities agreed last month to the $19,200 fee for the additional services provided by Birdsall Services Group, the engineering firm overseeing the project.

Mario Iannelli, the project manager from Birdsall, was also concerned prior to the start of the project that damage could occur to the roadway when the trucks, loaded with the stone foundation, travel between the municipal building and around the Department of Public Works facility to access the field.

While no damage has occurred yet, Bifalco expects the stone to begin arriving next week. 

The 1-foot of stone will be the foundation for the multi-use turf field that will be used for football, soccer, baseball and lacrosse.

The facility will feature covered dugouts, portable bleachers, a public address system, an outlet behind the mound to plug in a pitching machine and lighting that can even be programmed through the Internet.

"There is not much left to do," Bifalco said. "Once that stone comes in, it's going to move pretty fast."