Isabelle Hallnews@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH Burt Wolfs grandmother, Sarah Shapiro, died many years ago. Yet he often travels from his home in Portland, Maine to visit her at her house at Strawbery Banke Museum.

Since1997, when the Shapiro House first opened, Barbara Ann Paster has played the role of Sarah Shapiro speaking with her accent, cooking on the coal stove in her restored kitchen, and telling visitors about the history of her family.

BarbaraAnn has been portraying my grandmother for 20 years. Shes done it so long that she believes she is my grandmother, and shes convinced me that she is, Wolf said, laughing.

Accordingto Paster, Wolf calls her Bubbe, which is what he called his grandmother while she was alive.

Imvery close with the family, said Paster. In fact, as some of them have gotten older, Ive had to correct them about how the family fits together because I sometimes know it better than they do.

Ibelieve (Paster is) doing a wonderful, wonderful job, Wolf said.

From1909 to 1928, the Shapiro House was home to Sarah and her husband, Abraham Shapiro. They, and many of their family members, were part of a small community of Russian Jewish immigrants in the neighborhood once known as Puddle Dock. Abraham was among the founding members of Portsmouths Temple Israel in 1905.

TheShapiro House has since been restored to resemble how it looked in the year 1919, and features historical roleplayers and artifacts.

OnTuesday, Wolf and other descendants of the Shapiro family, along with members of the museum staff, gathered at the Shapiro House to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Todaywe celebrate the restoration of the Shapiro House as a milestone and a template guiding Strawbery Banke Museums efforts to restore other houses at Puddle Dock and recreate the neighborhood and tell the story of those who lived here for nearly 400 years,said Lawrence Yerdon, president and CEO of Strawbery Banke Museum.

Itsvery, very emotional that this story is still being told every single day, said Elaine Krasker, the granddaughter of Abrahams brother, Samuel Shapiro, and a former New Hampshire state senator. When they came here (from the Ukraine), they didnt speak English.It was a different religion, different traditions, different culture. But they became successful.

Descendantsof the Shapiro family have supported the Shapiro House since the museum first contacted them with the idea for the restoration. The family recently established the Shapiro House Endowment to ensure the houses future success.

Accordingto Wolf, the museum has made him feel more connected with the history of his family members and more appreciative of all they had to go through.

Ifwe had known when we were growing up that the house would be selected for a museum, we would have asked my grandparents a lot more questions, said Wolf.

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Family visits Shapiro House on its 20th anniversary - Seacoastonline.com

All the things we have, lined up with what they needed, Mr. Lynn said. They will represent a large part of our business.

Tech companies are nothing new for Cupertino. Apple has called the city home for decades, and Hewlett-Packard had a campus in Apples new spot, employing 9,000 people. The surrounding towns have been remade as well in the last decade, as giant tech companies have transformed Silicon Valleys real estate into some of the most expensive in the country.

But city officials and residents say this project is like nothing theyve seen before. It is even bringing tourists.

Onlookers snap pictures of the spaceship from the streets. TV helicopters circle above. Amateur photographers ask residents if they can stand on driveways to operate their drones, hoping to get a closer look at Apple Park.

I just say, Hey, go ahead, said Ron Nielsen, who lives in Birdland, a Sunnyvale neighborhood across the street from the spaceship. Why not?

Drone operators want that coveted aerial shot while pedestrians want to get an eyeful of the curved glass building before the headquarters become hidden by a man-made forest.

The campus is one of the last major projects started by Steven P. Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple, who died six years ago. Just a few months before his death, he went before the Cupertino City Council and laid out his vision for a futuristic circular house of glass that would foster creativity and collaboration. Two years later, the Council unanimously approved the plans for the campus.

The main center features the spaceship ring, the Steve Jobs Theater, a 100,000-square-foot gym and a visitors center in a woodland setting with two miles of running and walking paths. An orchard, a meadow and a pond are inside the ring.

The entire project shows off Apples obsession with details. The custom windows were made in Germany and are considered the worlds largest panels of curved glass. One pair of glass doors is 92 feet high. The finish on the underground concrete garage, said David Brandt, Cupertinos city manager, is so shiny it is almost like glass.

Mind-blowing, mind-blowing, mind-blowing, the mayor, Savita Vaidhyanathan, said about her visit to the site. I saw the underground 1,000-seat theater and the carbon-fiber roof. The roof was made in Dubai, and it was transported and assembled here. I love that its here and that I can brag about it.

Many of the public views will soon be going away. Apple Park will eventually have 9,000 trees, filling in much of the big open spaces. The public will instead have access to a visitors center with a cafe, a store and rooftop observation views.

It will be a separate glass structure and be set in an old-growth olive tree grove, said Dan Whisenhunt, Apples vice president of real estate and development.

Not all of these changes have thrilled everyone. Residents of Birdland, an 877-home neighborhood, have been particularly vocal. They have complained about early-morning construction rigs that beep and rumble along major streets, unpredictable road closings, unsightly green sheeted barriers and construction potholes that result in punctured tires.

When her car was covered with construction dust, Sheri Nielsen, Mr. Nielsens wife, contacted Apple. The company sent carwash certificates.

Mr. Whisenhunt said the company strove to answer every complaint it received, and if the issue is serious enough, I will personally visit to see what is going on.

In the design phase, he said, Apple hosted more than 110 community gatherings for feedback. Birdland was addressed in late 2012 and early 2013 and was given information about what would be happening over the next three years of construction. Apple published community mailers five times and sent them to 26,000 households.

Homestead Road, the thoroughfare that separates Apple Park from Birdland, became its own subject of debate. Cupertino officials wanted to construct a tree-lined median to calm traffic. Apple offered to cover the costs.

But homeowners objected. Residents complained that the island would eliminate one lane, backing up the heavy traffic even more. When 20 or so neighbors approached a Sunnyvale town meeting in solidarity, the city ended up siding with the residents.

The price of property in the neighborhood has also become a source of some worry. Sunnyvale and Cupertino, like many other Silicon Valley towns, have had an extended real estate boom, as the tech industry has expanded. Prices in the area really started to rise, real estate agents and residents said, after Apple released its plans.

A three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,400-square-foot ranch-style house that cost $750,000 in 2011 has doubled in price. Since Apple said it was moving into the former Hewlett-Packard site, prices have moved up 15 to 20 percent year after year, said Art Maryon, a local real estate agent. Today, bidders usually offer 20 to 25 percent over the asking price.

Birdland is already drawing Apple employees, replacing homeowners who have cashed out to move to quieter regions. Those who remain are realizing that life will not be the same when all 12,000 of the Apple workers go in and come out on a daily basis. People in the neighborhood dread the increased traffic and expect workers to park in front of their homes since there will be fewer available spaces in the company garage.

Apples answers to concerned residents will continue, Mr. Whisenhunt said.

When you tell people what is upcoming, some of the anxiety they have calms down a lot, he said.

And yet, he acknowledged, you dont make everyone happy.

A version of this article appears in print on July 5, 2017, on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Apples Eye-Catching New Home Disrupts Silicon Valley.

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Apple Disrupts Silicon Valley With Another Eye-Catcher: Its New Home - New York Times

Washington Business Journal

Building a block: Inside the massive effort to build The Boro in Tysons Washington Business Journal In Tysons, six construction cranes and enough concrete to fill 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools are laying the outline of what will be The Boro, a massive mixed-use development from The Meridian Group and Kettler. The $485 million construction project ...

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Building a block: Inside the massive effort to build The Boro in Tysons - Washington Business Journal

CHARLESTON, W.Va. The goal is to reopen Building 3 at the State Capitol Complex in Charleston later this summer.

We hope to have all of the agency tenants in place by August, said Diane Holley-Brown, spokesperson for the state Department of Administration.

In all, the building will house more than 500 employees from the Department of Commerce, the Division of Tourism, Workforce West Virginia, the Office of Economic Opportunity, Division of Labor, the state Development Office and the Division of Personnel.

The University of Charlestons Laidley Field lot will be used as an overflow parking lot to employees working for those agencies.

Were now going to be having them in a state-owned building on campus, so were going to have a lot more people on campus. Thats for sure, Holley-Brown said.

Crews with Paramount Builders, the contractor working on the project, are finishing the final tasks.

The floor plan of the newly renovated building is very open, Holley-Brown said. Theres more partisans rather than closed office spaces, but we have the furniture that are being installed and once that furniture is in place, a wiring will be completed.

The project has been 10 years in the making. The initial proposal for the building were presented in 2007.

The Division of Labor moved in June 16. The Department of Commerce will move in July 7-9. The Division of Personnel moves in Aug. 1. Tourism and Workforce West Virginia will settle in after that.

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Construction on Building 3 nears completion - West Virginia MetroNews

When Eric Dzhakhpevych found a construction job at Moscows Luzhniki Stadium, he entered the jobsite each morning past a statue of Vladimir Lenin below an unlit fluorescent light that curved into the words Dobro pozhalovat the Russian phrase for welcome.

But for many of the migrant workers renovating Luzhniki Stadium, where soccer fans will gather to watch the opening match of the 2018 World Cup, the entrance can lead to dangerous jobsites managed by exploitative employers.

Dzhakhpevych, 31, left his home country of Kyrgyzstan for construction work in Moscow. His boss at Luzhniki Stadium promised to pay Dzhakhpevych and his coworkers when they finished a two-month job insulating ceilings. But at the end of the gig, their employer disappeared without paying.

They said they would pay tomorrow, then they said it would be next week. And then a month went by, Dzhakhpevych said. But they still never paid us. The people we worked for just ran away.

Stories of frequent wage theft at Russias World Cup sites now threaten to tarnish the worlds most popular sporting event. Russia has already spent $11.4 billionon World Cup infrastructure in 11 host cities that required new stadiums or extensive renovations on existing venues like Luzhniki Stadium. The projects have attracted thousands of workers from throughout Russia and the former Soviet republics, many of whom have experienced severe labor violations.

At least 17 workershave died working on Russias World Cup sites, according to researchers with the global trade union Building and Woodworkers International in Geneva. A new reportby Human Rights Watch also documented widespread instances where construction workers laboring at Russian stadiums, many of them migrants from Central Asia, were cheated out of wages by construction companies.

Theres a pervasive system of worker exploitation on Russian construction sites, said Jane Buchanan, associate director of the European and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.

Dzhakhpevych came to Russia hoping to send home enough money to pay his fiances family a kalym,a traditional dowry,throw a nice wedding when he returned and finish building his house. Dzhakhpevychs home consists of a two-story structure with open windows that the elements blow through in the Kyrgyz city of Osh, about 2,350 milessoutheast of Moscow.

A university graduate with a law degree, Dzhakhpevych says he can earn four times more on Russian construction sites than he did back home. But despite the potential benefits of working in Russia, many migrants meet few of their goals.

Dzhakhpevych and four friends from Kyrgyzstan found work at Luzhniki Stadium insulating ceilings for a company called Stroi Kachestvo. Their boss paid them each just $60 a week to get by. When they finished the job, Stroi Kachestvo owed the group about $2,000, according to Dzhakhpevych. He says the employer promised to pay them several days later, but instead their boss disappeared and his phone number stopped working.

Russian labor law requires employers to provide foreign workers with a signed contract specifying the terms of the job, but many fail to comply. The practice leaves migrants with few options for holding unfair employers accountable.

Foreign workers laboring on Russian construction sites commonly become victims of wage theft. But Dzhakhpevych says the reasons migrants get tricked by Russian bosses even a trained lawyer like himself are complex.

Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks theyre mostly Muslim, Dzhakhpevych said,and they take a person for their word. So when a boss promises them something, they believe it and do the work. And at the end of the job, they don't get paid.

Workers at five of Russias World Cup stadiums have gone on strike over unpaid wages. Other workers said they were forced to labor in freezing winter temperatures without adequate protection. And in one case, workers from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were even arrested and deported from Russia for complaining about problems with their contracts.

Many workers at Russias stadiums said their bosses threatened to fire them for speaking about the working conditions. And workers arent the only ones who face retaliation. A researcher with Human Rights Watch was arrestedand threatened by police for investigating labor conditions at a stadium in the Russian city of Volgograd.

The atmosphere of control and intimidation and secrecy was something that we had neverencountered before in Russia, Buchanan said, so there is a real concern about what those responsible for the World Cup have to hide.

Soccers governing body, FIFA, has regularly inspected labor conditions at the stadiums for the first time ever in the lead up to a World Cup. FIFA has admitted publiclythat there have been problems, but FIFA hasnt stated what sorts of specific labor violations they found. In response to an interview request, FIFA sent a brief email maintaining that the working conditions at Russian stadiums areparamount.

The construction companies that have abused Russias World Cup construction workers, despite the inspections by FIFA, often violate a number of Russian laws. Public records revealed that Stroi Kachestvo, the company that failed to pay Dzhakhpevych, was located in a Moscow office building with no phone number. The company listed a starting capital of just $200, a common practice of Russian shell companies.

Workers who do experience employment-related abuses in Russias soccer stadiums have few avenues for demanding payment from their bosses. Advocates say that exploitation of migrant workers in Russia often persistsbecause, simply, many Russians just dont want foreigners in the country.

People think that immigration is bad for the economy, that immigrants take away their job or that maybe migrants can be terrorists, said Varya Tretyak, director of a program that provides legal aid to migrants at the Moscow nonprofit Civic Assistance Committee.

On a summer afternoon in the committees offices, Tretyak investigated a construction company that owed $2,000 in unpaid wages to a worker from Uzbekistan. Tretyak did a quick online search and learned that the construction company wasnt properly registered.

Tretyak used this information when she called the workers boss to intimidate him to pay. When the boss answered the phone, an accusatory tone replaced Tretyaks friendly demeanor. But the employer insisted he had never heard of the worker. Tretyak hung up the phone and vowed to take legal action if he still neglected to pay after several more calls.

Construction workers at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow say that wage theft is so common throughout the Russian construction industry that a culture of complacence has evolved. When a problem occurs, migrants usually just move on to another jobsite. The immediate pressure to send remittances back home, and the necessity to put a roof over your head, usually outweighs the time it would take to hold employers accountable.

Exploitation at construction sites often traps many migrants in Russia for far longer than they planned. Dzhakhpevych again, a trained lawyer simply left Russia.

We have a proverb that says, its good to be a guest, but its better to be at home, Dzhakhpevych said. Here in Russia you just go to work in the morning, come home at night to sleep.

Dzhakhpevych left Russia without saving enough money to finish his house in Kyrgyzstan. And, he saidvia email, he hadnt even gotten married, yet.

Dzhakhpevych said he'ddecided one thing: He planned to go back to Russia soon to find work at another construction site.

Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed reporting to this piece.

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Many migrant workers building Russia's World Cup sites are getting stiffed - PRI

Downtown Austin is transmogrifying before our eyes as it turns into (Caution: columnist exaggeration ahead) Manhattan-on-the-Colorado.

The signs are everywhere, helping us sort out which building will be what. There are hotels, office buildings, condos and all kinds of stuff that rich real estate investors think will make them even richer real estate investors.

Eager to get in on the downtown crane craze, the University of Texas System is pretty far along on the 19-story building that will replace several downtown office buildings that long have housed system officials. Move-in at the new building begins Aug. 1. Congrats to UT Systemites and best wishes on your new home.

READ: University of Texas System building $102 million headquarters downtown

The sign in front of that new building identifies the replacement office building as the Replacement Office Building. Heckuva name. I like it. Hey, you going to the meeting at the ROB?

The name also seems to have caught on with DPR Construction, the folks building it. Its website identifies the 330,000-square-foot building as The University of Texas System, Replacement Office Building.

So thats it. Now and forever its the Replacement Office Building, just like the sign says. Done. Finito.

Nope, insists UT System spokeswoman Jenny LaCoste-Caputo.

The building itself actually has this inscribed on it: The University of Texas System Administration, she told me.

Not trying to get picky here, but the inscription actually says The University of Texas System. Either way, is that the name of the building or the name of the agency in it? Shouldnt the building have a distinctive name maybe a famous persons name as do the buildings the Replacement Office Building is replacing?

To my knowledge, LaCoste-Caputo reported, there have not been discussions about a different name for the building.

Karen Adler of the systems Office of External Relations told me Replacement Office Building is sort of internal speak and not the buildings name.

Its simply an identifier. Its who we are, she said. We are the University of Texas System.

And she joked that it could be the Ken Herman University of Texas System Building for a $100 million donation. I told her it takes me three years to earn that kind of money. (And Im aware some readers would be willing to contribute if it would be the Ken Herman Memorial University of Texas System Building.)

Perhaps the UT System needs a Your Name Here campaign aimed at wealthy donors.

RELATED: UT fund drive ends with $3.1 billion in gifts, pledges

At the new building, UT will be on six floors, others include parking and leased space. It replaces two buildings knocked down at the site on West Seventh Street, between Lavaca and Colorado streets. Those buildings unimaginatively were known as the Lavaca Building and the Colorado Building.

The three other nearby UT System buildings that are being replaced have peoples names on them, though only one of the three is readily recognizable and another is a Confederate guy.

You know the story about for whom the O. Henry Building is named. (Its a short story.) That structure was sold by the UT System to the Texas State University System. And the UT folks have signed a ground lease with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. for the site of the systems current Ashbel Smith Hall and Claudia Taylor Johnson Hall.

That latter one is a building named for someone everybody knows but not under the name by which everybody knew her. Claudia Taylor Johnson was Lady Bird Johnson. What if we would have rechristened Town Lake as Claudia Taylor Lake? Just not the same.

And by getting out of Ashbel Smith Hall, the UT System is cutting ties with the Confederacy. In addition to other stuff (Republic of Texas secretary of state and ambassador to the United Kingdom and France, first UT System Board president), Smith (1805-1886) was a celebrated physician and a colonel in the army of the Confederacy.

Even his name is kind of Gone with the Wind-ish. Oh, Ashbel! (Not to be confused with O. Henry.)

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Post-Civil War, Smith did lots of good stuff for our state, serving in the Texas House and becoming a major advocate for education, including helping to establish Prairie View A&M University for African-Americans.

Trammell Crow will develop the property on which Smith and Johnson halls now stand. The lease requires preservation of the southern and western facades of Johnson Hall.

So whos got ideas for a good name for the new UT System administration building, something UT appropriate? FYI, there was a time when I thought if he had led the Horns to another national title or two we might have renamed our Capitol as the Vince Young Statehouse. Alas, all we got was a steakhouse.

How about we name the new UT System building for former state senator and Texas Supreme Court Justice James Wallace?

Yeah, I know hes a University of Arkansas alum, but I like the idea of the UT System housed in something named Wallace Hall, reminding all in perpetuity of the recent regent who spent a lot of time investigating, suing and being a general nuisance to the system.

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Herman: Move-in day nears for UT System Replacement Office Building - MyStatesman.com

DeWalt is expanding its 20V Max System to include the worlds first pro-grade 18 GA flooring stapler, the DeWalt 20V Max Flooring Stapler. This new stapler can drive18 GA 1/4-inch narrow crown staples from 1/2- to 1-1/2-inches for installation of solid and engineered hardwood ranging in thickness from 3/8- to 5/8-inch. It features a contact arm optimized for flooring, tool-free adjustable base, and a brushless motor.

If youve ever put in the effort of tongue and groove flooring installation, you know what a challenge it can be. Not only is your body in an uncomfortable posture bent at the back, weight on your knees for long periods of time, but then theres the standing up and kneeling down again for trips to the saw for cutting pieces to length or for notching around doorways. The nailer or stapler is usually powered by a gas cartridge or a compressor and hose to which you must be tethered.

Then you might have to contend with the inconsistency of the nailing angle and splitting of groove rails. You could use a flooring nailer with a hammer for consistent angles, but that can be tiresome, especially for large jobs. DeWalt might just have a solution with theDeWalt 20V Max Flooring Stapler that just intuitively looks like it will make your flooring installation life a whole lot easier.

Youll immediately notice the cordless nature of the tool the first of its kind. Cutting the cord/hose is probably enough to convince most people that this stapler is superior to most. But theres much more here. The staplers adjustable, non-marring base gives it an upside-down orientation when in use and ensures proper fastener angle every time. You can quickly slide the stapler down the groove and fire off fasteners quickly with the tool-free selectable trigger for sequential or rapid sequential actuation. To add to the potential speed, molded to the traditional trigger is a paddle trigger which allows the user to sink staples just as fast as the motor will cycle.

In addition to all that good stuff is a brushless motor which extends tool and battery life, work lights, and a bottom load magazine. We have a feeling that the DeWalt 20V Max Flooring Stapler is a big leap forward for flooring installation. It might not eliminate the bent-over and kneeling posture required, but it certainly looks like it will significantly cut down on the time you have to be in it.

Link:
DeWalt 20V Max Flooring Stapler Unleashed - Pro Tool Reviews (blog)

Everett Harding, and employee of the Cincinnati Floor Company, installs new unfinished wood slats for the new gym floor at Whiteoak High School. The project began on June 1, 2017 with the removal of the previous flooring and is expected to be completed by August 1, 2017.

Ryan Applegate | The Times-Gazette

The Whiteoak High School gymnasium is currently undergoing a significant facelift, as a new wood floor is being installed at the facility. Cincinnati Floor Company (CFC) was contracted to perform the tear down of the old floor and the installation of the new floor. The Bright Local School District (BLSD) has also entered into a maintenance agreement with CFC for annual maintenance and prevention measures.

CFC is a locally owned flooring installation and maintenance company based in St. Bernard, Ohio. The company has been in business since 1894 as an installer and manufacturer of wood flooring. According to the companys website CFC has installed numerous gym floors locally as well as nationally including the practice courts for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA and historic Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University (Bloomington).

The project will cost the BLSD $150,000 all of which, according to BLSD superintendent Ted Downing, has been fully funded through the general fund of the district. Downing told The Times-Gazette that the floor should last up to 50 years as long as it is taken care of and maintained properly.

The BLSD Board of Education decided to move forward with this project after it was discovered, during the last school year, that the wood panels were beginning to break and that it was likely they would continue to break if something was not done to remedy the problem. We looked at things and figured if we dont replace it we are going to keep nickel and diming. It needs to be fixed, said Downing. Downing also pointed out that the roof on the gym, and other parts of the school, was leaking leading to the accelerated deterioration of the gym floor. Downing also said, When they took everything out of here there was still water sitting on the concrete under the gym floor. They had to delay work on the new floor by a week to let it dry before they started the installation project.

Because of the differences in concrete pouring practices and advanced technology that is used to level the concrete in the present day CFC has had to re-laser and readjust every board that has been placed to fit the gym floor.

Along with the new floor the gym has also been the recipient of new backboards, new lights, an air conditioning system, and new visitors side bleachers. The money that the BLSD will save by using LED lighting throughout the school is being used to help fund the air conditioning system not only in the gymnasium but also in other parts of the school. The installation of the new air conditioning system in the gym is one of the key aspects of maintaining this floor for a long time. The climate controlled environment will allow the wood to avoid a tremendous amount of the stress the old floor had to endure simply by allowing the wood to not draw moisture and extending the overall life span of the floor, Downing told The Times-Gazette.

The district has also undertaken several other improvement projects in the last few years including the re-paving of the school parking lots and the construction of a soccer field. Downing advised that if there are enough kids we are going to be using the soccer field this coming year. There are also plans to build a batting facility for the baseball and softball teams, the facility will be located behind Whiteoak High School.

When asked about the impact the improved facilities will have on the athletes at the school Downing said, First of all, if you dont take care of your facilities how are you doing to have any pride in them? If you have pride in where you play and what you are in it means a lot more to you. Downing went on to say, Its like your home, you cannot let your home go and not do stuff. Since I came on board the Board of Education and the treasurer and myself have all been working together and we are getting stuff done. We are trying to bring back a lot of the pride that had gotten away for a while.

The gym floor was started on June 1 and is expected to be finished by August 1 for the start of the 2017 volleyball season. If the floor is not finished by then we can practice in the elementary school gym. There are advantages to having a second gym, Downing said.

Along with the improvements to the facilities the district also intends to offer bowling as a varsity sport in 2017 and will be offering more classes at the high school for the 2017 school year.

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.

Everett Harding, and employee of the Cincinnati Floor Company, installs new unfinished wood slats for the new gym floor at Whiteoak High School. The project began on June 1, 2017 with the removal of the previous flooring and is expected to be completed by August 1, 2017.

http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Whiteoak-Gym-Floor-Replacement.jpgEverett Harding, and employee of the Cincinnati Floor Company, installs new unfinished wood slats for the new gym floor at Whiteoak High School. The project began on June 1, 2017 with the removal of the previous flooring and is expected to be completed by August 1, 2017. Ryan Applegate | The Times-Gazette

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Whiteoak High School gets new gym floor; part of ongoing district renovations - Hillsboro Times Gazette

By Kaitlin Junod lexington@wickedlocal.com

The Lexington Permanent Building Committee and DiNisco Design met on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the construction at Clarke and Diamond Middle Schools, the Hastings School and the new preschool and community center at Pelham Road. While all projects are progressing on schedule and on budget, DiNisco presented new design elements and adjustments for the Hastings School and the Pelham Road site.

Pelham Road

Following a summit meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the School, Appropriation and Capital Expenditures Committees earlier this month, Donna DiNisco of DiNisco Design reported that the final decision at the Pelham Road project is to tear down the existing building and construct a new Lexington Childrens Place. A robust schematic design is projected to be ready to present at the fall special Town Meeting, scheduled for Oct. 16 and 18.

While the design for a brand-new LCP is moving forward, plans to devote part of the Pelham Road site to an expansion of the Lexington Community Center have been put on the back burner for now. At a summit meeting in August, committee members and selectmen will decide on the projects next steps.

We just want to continue to look at it holistically to see what makes sense from the community center aspect of it, DiNisco said. Its taking a pause and not rushing into a decision that might not ultimately be the best decision for the community center.

Hastings Elementary

The Hastings Elementary School project is officially in the design development stage, said DiNisco. The biggest change to the buildings design was the decision to shift its orientation slightly south to increase the space between the school and the bordering properties to the north and reduce the length of the retaining wall between them.

According to DiNisco, shifting the building further south would increase the distance between property lines from 30-35 feet to 60 feet in some places, but it would not affect the overall square footage of the building. The adjusted design would have some impacts on the outdoor space, reducing walkways and planted areas near the playground.

Andrew Clarke and Curt Barrentine of the Permanent Building Committee expressed concern that the students would be losing out on active play space, but DiNisco said she was confident that the total 43,000 square feet of play area could be maintained. She emphasized that the design is still in the works, and that the plans presented at the meeting were not finalized.

The only downside of shifting the building would be compromising the north-south solar orientation of the classrooms, which was the driving factor behind the old design. This means that with the shifted building, some classrooms could experience glare from the sun depending on the time of day, but DiNisco said these impacts were not major, and were outweighed by the budgetary and logistical benefits of the new design.

Clarke and Diamond

June was a productive month for the Clarke Middle School project, according to a report made to the committee. Demolition for the interior renovation began, as did preparations for relocating the gas line at the bridge. In July, permanent power will be installed, interior demolition will be completed and a pedestrian bridge will be installed. Demolition at the entry plaza and parking lot will also be completed, with the hopes of installing underlying structures and new utilities there.

At the Diamond Middle School project, drywall in the classroom addition is complete, with the prime and first coats of paint finished. Throughout June, priorities included demolishing the buildings existing boilers and starting installation of lockers, flooring and ceiling tiles. In July, the committee hopes to finish installing lockers, start millwork and have permanent power at the site completed.

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Brand-new building pitched for Lexington Children's Place - Wicked Local Wakefield

British clean-tech company, Pavegen, installed the first street that will generate electricity with help of the weight of pedestrians footsteps in Bird Street, London. Shoppers and commuters will generate electricity by walking on tiles encompassing 10 square meters (107 square foot), and will also be able to check how much theyve generated from a mobile application.

Pavegens installation is a multifunctional, custom flooring system that is embedded with a wireless transmitter, capturing the data from the tiles, along with generators that generate kinetic energy as people walk. This happens because the pressure causes generators in the flooring to vertically displace. Therefore, electromagnetic induction creates kinetic energy, which can then be used to provide electric power. As its name suggests, in Bird Street, the tiles will be powering ambient bird chirps as well as lighting.

Lawrence Kemball-Cook on a bike in Bird Street. / Twitter

When a person walks, they generate 5 watts of energy continuously, so you are, we all are, a 5-watt power-feed. Now imagine 10 people; thats 50 watts of energy continuously, saysPavegen CEO Laurence Kemball-Cook.Lets say you have 40,000 people an hour passing through Grand Central Station, that energy is stored in batteries, and at night time, the power comes on. So municipalities, train stations, offices, schools anywhere with lots of people walking thats perfect for us, he adds.

This is not the first Pavegen installment in London; in 2014, Heathrow AirportsTerminal 3got its very own energy-generating tiles.Its also the worlds first airport interactive light exhibit, which they are calling Flow, coupled with the hashtag #walkandlight for passengers to add in their captions when posting videos or pictures.

Across the pond in Washington DC, just steps away from the White House, Pavegen designed a 73 square meter (240 square foot) installation on Connecticut Avenue,which sees around 10,000 people passing through daily. In Rio de Janeiro, the company has used the weight of childrens footsteps as they run, jump and play ina football field to light it, making it safer for children to play at night.

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Pavegen Gives London World's First Energy-Generating Street - progrss (press release) (blog)