A $2.4 million project to renovate Andover Town Office will include installing sprinklers on the third floor of the building, but will not add additional costs to the project.
“In consultation with the fire chief and other officials, they felt it was short-sighted to not put in a sprinkler system, so it became part of the scope of the project,” Jeff Shaw of Context Architecture told the Permanent Town Building Advisory Committee. “It obviously was not anticipated in the original budget, but I think it’s a good idea.”
The Permanent Town Building Advisory Committee got updates on several school and local government building projects when it held a virtual meeting Friday. Shaw said the funds for the sprinkler system were transferred from the project’s third phase to the first phase scheduled to begin next spring, but the town will, at some point, need to add sprinklers to the first and second floors.
The Town Offices renovation includes expanding the select board meeting room and adding an AV area for storing equipment used to broadcast meetings. There will be improvements to the corridor and stairways outside the meeting room, and there will be a reconfiguration of third-floor offices to create additional office space and a new conference room.
On the first floor, the project will create a customer service area and make improvements to the entryway and corridors. Most of the second-floor work will happen in the building’s hallways.
Vivian Low of DiNisco Design gave an update on planned renovations at Doherty Middle School, which includes the addition of an elevator to eliminate “the massive ramp system” that is currently in the building. The removal of the ramps will also create space to update the lobby. The project also includes the installation of a fire sprinkler system.
The $8.4 million project is set to go out to bid in the spring, allowing the most disruptive work, including installing pipes in the hallway ceilings, to be done over the summer when school is not in session. Classroom work would be done next year after school closes each day. Low expects work to be completed next summer, in time for a construction-free start to the 2024-25 school year.
“The goal is really to minimize disruption to the school and the educational program,” Low said.