The former Pipe & Book storefront has sat vacant for the last ten years, but on April 15th, as spring arrived, the Northwood School on Main construction project began bringing new life to the historic building.
With safety, protection and the minimization of Main St. disruption as top priorities, the team from Bette & Cring started by properly securing the site with the installation of a barrier, walkway signage and loading zone parameters to protect the public and maintain the greater street traffic on weekends, while also encouraging pedestrians to continue to visit surrounding businesses.
Inside and out of the public view, minor demolition, opening the floors and the intricate process to secure the footers for the steel structures has been completed. The focus has been on strengthening the 104 year old building, which has entailed laborious work to remove piled rubble from the foundation and a manual process to dig trenches and excavate holes for the footers and steel rebar concrete forms. The engineering plans require the construction team to build an additional 9 footers. As the concrete cures, which can take up to 28 days, the team has also been leveling the concrete floor in the shop area. In the coming weeks, selective demolition on the back porch and the asbestos abatement will begin.
While making everything old new again and as highlighted in the Lake Placid News, Northwood School continues to anticipate construction to be completed for the 2019-2020 school year.