L.J. Newman Memorial building renovation on track

NEWMAN A $400,000 facelift for the L.J. Newman Memorial Building is well under way and on schedule for completion.

The project will provide a floor-to-ceiling renovation of the 1970s-era community center located on Orestimba Road at the northwest corner of the city.

Work on the renovation started several weeks ago and the contractor, Hilmar-based Harris Builders, is scheduled to be finished at the end of February, reported city staff members Stephanie Ocasio and Mike Maier, who spearheaded the project.

That will allow a month to take care of finishing touches and for the city to finish the aspects of the project that it is doing in-house, such as cleanup and landscape installation.

The renovation has shifted from demolition to reconstruction, Ocasio and Maier explained during a recent tour of the facility. Outside, the initial coat of stucco had been applied to the new facade with a color coat to follow.

Inside, tiles had been stripped from the floor to reveal the concrete beneath, restroom walls had been reconfigured, plumbing infrastructure is in place and the installation of new ceiling panels and lighting has started.

New windows have been installed around the upper reaches of the walls, and the vertical bricks which partially blocked the old windows were removed to provide more natural light inside. Broken window blocks have been replaced as well.

All the major demolition and infrastructure work is done, Ocasio and Maier stated.

The renovation will blend old and new, Ocasio explained.

The brick exterior, for example, will remain beneath the new stucco facade which replaces the wooden shingles that previously rimmed the building.

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L.J. Newman Memorial building renovation on track