New England 1, January 4, 2023

Cleary Stone has had its eye on sustainability for a long time. The Richmond, Vt.-based business provides rock products from gravel to large slabs to customers who care about the earth, so it simply makes sense.

“We work primarily with landscapers who love the earth and enjoy making it more beautiful,” said John Cleary, founder and part owner.

So when Volvo Construction Equipment announced that electric compact machines were available to order, the Cleary team was immediately interested. They told their dealer contact, Chris Palmer at Wood’s CRW, that they wanted an electric machine, and he called them as soon as an L20 Electric compact wheel loader came in.

Quinnipiac University Gets Approval to Build ‘Transformative’ $293M South Quad

The Hamden, Conn., Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plan Dec. 13 by Quinnipiac University to go ahead with what the school calls a “transformative” building project on its South Quad project, setting the stage for construction to begin this winter.

The $293 million effort consists of an approximately 142,000-sq.-ft. general academics building, a new 80,000sq.-ft. School of Business, and a 417-bed, first-year student residence hall. The South Quad, expected to open during the

2024-25 academic year, will be located between Quinnipiac’s Tator Hall, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Commons residence hall.

“This is a great example of our community’s shared vision for the future,” Bethany Zemba, Quinnipiac’s vice president for strategy and community relations, told the college’s online news site. “So many people have participated in conversations — from the development of our master facilities

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With Council Approval, New CityPlace Project to Start

The Burlington City Council in Vermont approved an amended development agreement on Nov. 1 for CityPlace Burlington, allowing construction on the long-stalled project to begin.

“We’ve been working towards this moment for a long time,” said David Farrington, one of the project partners.

For years, the future of “the pit,” as locals have nicknamed it, has been uncertain. In 2014, former owner Don Sinex pitched redeveloping the old Burlington Town Center mall into 14-story towers. Sinex had the mall demolished in 2017, but the site stayed empty, with little movement since.

Seven Days, an independent weekly news source in Burlington, reported Nov. 1 that the CityPlace project is now helmed by three local businesspeople: Farrington of Shelburne’s Farrington Construction, Al Senecal of Omega Electric Construction in South Burlington, and Scott Ireland of S.D. Ireland Construction, from Williston.

In recent months, the trio made notable progress on the development with CityPlace Burlington announcing in September a partnership with Champlain Housing Trust, which will construct affordable housing on the site as well as the city council’s final approval of the project.

Ambitious Plans Being Realized

Phase One of the developers’ plans for the site includes a total of two towers about 10 stories each that would hold some 430 total units of housing, including 85 affordable

apartments, 45,000 sq. ft. of ground level retail space, 420 parking spaces, and a rooftop restaurant and observation deck.

The first step in the construction effort, according to Farrington, is to start laying the foundation for the south tower, which faces Bank Street. Building would then continue clockwise around the plot, he told Seven Days, adding that the project should “go vertical” by June or July of 2023, with the building job, including a north tower, completed by November 2025.

“All I can say is, it’s about time,” he said.

“This is a unique and great opportunity to build affordable housing in downtown Burlington,” Michael Monte, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust, told the Burlington City Council at an October meeting.

To move forward with the ambitious construction timeline, though, the city had to approve changes to the agreement that was negotiated with Sinex, the prior owner, in early 2021. The earlier agreement was based on a different financing timetable and did not account for the current partnership with Champlain Housing Trust.

The new agreement allows the CityPlace partners to begin, even though they have yet to secure funding for the entire project, which will be built in phases. The amendment also acknowledges Champlain Housing Trust’s involvement and accommodates the legislature’s statewide extension of the tax-increment financing bond deadline, which is now set for next spring.

Even before the agreement passed, CityPlace’s developers applied for a building permit to lay the foundation for the structure, at an estimated cost of $12 million.

The team behind the project spoke at the Nov. 1 meeting about the uncertainties ahead, warning that there could be future amendments to the agreement. The developers reiterated, though, that city taxpayers will be better off with the decision to move forward with construction.

“This is clearly a major step towards our longstanding goals for our downtown,” said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger.

CityPlace Deal to Help Pay for Other Projects

Burlington city officials had long demanded that the CityPlace project include restoration of the portions of Pine and St. Paul streets that were severed when the mall was built in the 1960s.

The new agreement says the builders will construct the streets and the city will reimburse them with $21.8 million in tax increment financing dollars, a funding plan that voters approved in November 2016. The debt would be repaid with the additional tax

revenue generated by the project itself.

In addition, the deal reached in October allows the city to carry out some public improvement projects around Pine and St. Paul streets if it can obtain grant funding for the work.

Among the proposed efforts is a councilapproved route for the Railyard Enterprise Project, which, after it is built in the next several years, will connect Pine and Battery streets. The new avenue would run from Pine Street near Kilburn Street, then cut through property owned by Vermont Rail System, Curtis Lumber, and the Independent Block before joining Battery at Maple Street.

First proposed in 2021, the project would provide motorists with a more direct route to downtown Burlington and the Lake Champlain waterfront. Additionally, it could reduce traffic in the area by as much as 59 percent, according to a study in August 2020 by the consulting firm Resource Systems Group.

Described by its backers as the least expensive of three options the council considered, the route is also expected to ease an influx of traffic the city anticipates will come through the Pine Street corridor once the Champlain Parkway is built. Construction on the latter roadway has already begun, though its completion is still years away, Seven Days reported.

With a green light from the city council, the proposed Railyard Enterprise route will undergo an environmental assessment by the Federal Highway Administration, with denial or approval likely announced in early 2023. 

Crews Blast Bedrock to Build 45-Room Inn in Bar Harbor

New construction began in November to build an inn in a prominent part of downtown Bar Harbor, Maine, where run-down buildings once stood, the Bangor Daily News reported Dec. 18.

Crews began working on the 45-room inn, which under the town’s ordinances falls under the heading of a bed and breakfast, just as Bar Harbor’s annual tourist season wound down. Workers have been digging the inn’s foundation, and blasting away bedrock, for a drive-in basement parking garage large enough to hold 45 spaces — one spot for each guest room.

The Daily News noted that it is uncertain when the lodging business will open or what its name will be.

The development, which will revive a dormant commercial property in the center of the busy downtown village, comes as the number of tourists to Bar Harbor has surged

in the past two years following the pandemic.

Warning whistles and blasts at the project site have punctuated working hours at the western end of Cottage Street, where the new inn is going up next to Bar Harbor’s municipal building, and directly across the street from Jordan’s Restaurant.

Stephen Coston, one of the two owners of the new inn, said he and his partner Brian Shaw are unsure whether they will be able to open in time for next year’s tourist season.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he told the Bangor news source. “We hope to open in 2023.”

New Bar Harbor Inn to Be Open Year Round

Coston, who owns several other B&Bs and inns in Bar Harbor, is not required by the

town to have on-site parking at the new tourist lodge because of its land use classification. But, with downtown parking hard to come by during Bar Harbor’s busy summers, the inn would not succeed without it, he said.

“I’m not building a lodging business without parking,” he explained. “We’d be crucified.”

The B&B will have three floors, 10 of which will be on the first floor, along with a lobby and a restaurant. The remaining rooms are planned for the second and third floors.

Coston said the cost of breakfast at the inn will be included in the price guests pay, but the restaurant will be open to the public for lunch and dinner.

He and Shaw plan to run the inn and restaurant year-round, even though many other businesses and hotels in Bar Harbor close from November until April. They are

leaning toward naming the establishment “The Pathmaker” — an homage to the trails of the nearby Acadia National Park, though Coston said that name is currently only an idea. He added that they have not yet decided if the restaurant will have a separate name.

For many years, the site of the new inn was home to a large, dilapidated garage that was demolished nine years ago after heavy snow made part of the roof cave in. Another adjacent barn-style building also was determined to be unsafe before being razed in 2019.

Part of the new inn also will occupy a former lot on Summer Street, which runs parallel to Cottage Street, where a derelict house also had drawn the town’s attention before it was taken down. The entrance to the inn’s basement garage will be on the Summer Street site.

Supply Chain Issues Push School’s Finish

The town of Brookfield, Conn., has scheduled an updated move-in date for its new elementary school after completion of the construction project was stalled for months by supply chain issues.

With the Candlewood Lake Elementary School (CLES) now slated to be finished in late May or early June in 2023, the plan is to move students and staff into the new 139,000-sq.-ft. facility next fall for the new school year.

The new facility, which will accommodate more than 1,000 students and 200 staff, was expected to be complete by the end of this month, with students and staff starting the move-in process by early January. But material delays have pushed back those plans, school officials told CT Insider.

The online news service reported Dec. 18 that a driving factor behind the delays stems from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this year by a company that was supplying the school’s flooring, which forced the school district to find another flooring manufacturer for the $78.1 million project.

As Brookfield’s Municipal Building Committee Chair Paul Checco explained two months ago to CT Insider, the loss of the supplier created a “ripple effect” in the market, as other manufacturers experienced increased demand, making it difficult to predict when the flooring would be ready for installation.

After learning that a lack of flooring material availability would cause a delay in the initial move-in date at the new elementary school, the district awaited word from the school project’s contractor, O&G Construction in Torrington, Conn., before learning that the date was pushed back several months.

As a result, Brookfield school district leaders have decided to no longer pursue a

phased-in approach in which the Huckleberry Hill Elementary students and staff would have moved next month.

“We have concluded that the best schedule for all involved would be to have a single move into CLES at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year,” Superintendent John Barile, current Huckleberry Hill principal and future Candlewood Lake Elementary principal David Pepsoski, along with Brookfield Board of Education Chair Robert Belden announced in a Dec. 15 statement.

The Candlewood Lake Elementary School project has been plagued with delays, according to CT Insider. In November 2021, school officials announced three- to fourmonth delays in the delivery of essential roofing materials for the project.

School Big Enough for All Students Up Through 5th Grade

The new facility in the community of Brookfield, with a population of about 17,500, will accommodate all pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students in town — including those fifth graders and staff at Whisconier Elementary School currently using portable classrooms.

It is being constructed on the grounds of the existing Huckleberry Hill School.

Despite the delays for Candlewood Lake Elementary School, Barile, Pepsoski, and Belden all noted there is some good news.

“We are able to stay on the original plan that the [town’s] entire pre-K through 5th grade [classes] will be in the new school together to start the 2023-24 school year on Sept. 5, right after Labor Day,” the Brookfield education leaders said in their Dec. 15 letter. “This provides us with the opportunity to become one school community together, at the same time, as originally envisioned when CLES opens its doors.”

The district said it plans to provide information to the community on the transition planning process throughout the winter and spring. 

The new facility, which will accommodate more than 1,000 students and 200 staff, was expected to be complete by the end of December.

The Candlewood Lake Elementary School project has been plagued with delays.

to Fall 2023

MassDOT, Amtrak, CSX Working to Improve Rail Corridor

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recently began a partnership with the rail services Amtrak and CSX to apply for funding from a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant program to strengthen the rail corridor between Springfield and Worchester.

The application to receive the FRA’s Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant seeks more than $108 million for corridor infrastructure projects planned under Massachusetts’ “Connecting the Commonwealth: Early Actions for the Inland Route Project.”

“Rail infrastructure projects, especially those between Springfield and Worcester, are a major part of the Commonwealth’s path forward to providing service between Boston and Springfield,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I’m glad we can take advantage of the unprecedented rail funding oppor tunities available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CRISI application will help us realize our goal of faster train trips between western and eastern regions of the state.”

The $108 million sought by the partnership via the CRISI grant will go toward the total project cost of approximately $135 million. MassDOT also plans to contribute more than $18 million, with Amtrak kicking in another $9 million to the overall cost.

Effort to Greatly Enhance Rail Service in Region

MassDOT outlined the planned rail upgrades in the grant application:

• The project will facilitate two Amtrak Inland Route daily round trips as a first phase of corridor improvements that improve connections within Massachusetts between Boston, Worcester and Springfield and to communities beyond the [state] in Connecticut and New York City. In addition to the two new daily trains, travel times will be improved for the existing Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, enhancing connections from Eastern Massachusetts to Pittsfield, [Mass.], Albany, N.Y, and other upstate New York communities.

• It will increase operational efficiency and flexibility by reducing passenger and freight train conflicts and reducing travel times along the remaining single-track segments on the CSX-owned segment between Worcester and Springfield. These upgrades

are a necessary first step for increasing train frequency and speed along the Inland Route Corridor and the corridor between Boston and Albany.

• Also included are infrastructure improvements that result in increased train speeds and more corridor capacity along the 53-mi. section of the CSX Boston & Albany (B&A) Line between Worcester and Springfield. The extension of existing passing siding capacity and other track upgrades will increase the maximum authorized speed, or MAS, to 80 mph and minimize train delays along the 44-mile single-track segment. In addition, a siding will be built in Grafton, Mass., that will improve the efficiency and capacity of freight interchange with Grafton & Upton Railroad while also minimizing the freight impacts to passenger operations.

“We are pleased to work with Amtrak and CSX to make improvements to this portion of the CSX-owned Boston-Albany Line to begin Amtrak service along the Inland Route, connecting Boston, Worcester and Springfield to Hartford and New Haven, Conn., and New York City,” said Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler. “These improvements will allow for additional corridor capacity and decrease travel times between station destinations.”

Tesler added that his state and Amtrak have enjoyed a strong partnership over the years in providing rail services in Massachusetts and connecting communities across the Northeast.

“We look forward to the approval of this CRISI application so we can make the necessary investments to expand passenger rail options in Massachusetts while ensuring the fluidity of the freight rail network,” he explained.

Officials with both Amtrak and CSX also expressed their happiness with the alliance between the three entities to apply for the federal funds.

“Amtrak is proud to collaborate with MassDOT and CSX Transportation in seeking infrastructure funding from the CRISI grant program,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. “This investment will advance the long-awaited restoration of Inland Route service to Western Massachusetts. It is the first step in expanding service to these key communities and connecting passengers to destinations throughout the Northeast and beyond.”

Likewise, Andy Daly, senior director of passenger rail operations for CSX, noted that his company’s support for the grant application builds on its long-standing relationship with CSX’s passenger rail partners.

“We look forward to working with the

current team at MassDOT and the incoming [Gov. Maura] Healey Administration to advance this important project that seeks to improve rail infrastructure along a corridor that connects five of the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the U.S.,” he said.

Feds Earlier Gave MassDOT Money for Planning

Last summer, the Biden Administration awarded MassDOT almost $1.8 million through the CRISI program for preliminary engineering and environmental review for investments that will improve rail infrastructure, enhance safety and operational flexibility, and increase train capacity near Springfield’s Union Station. In turn, the state agency is contributing a 50 percent matching amount.

According to MassDOT, these investments will support the Amtrak Springfield Line, the CSX Boston Albany Line, and small segments of the former Armory Branch and Knowledge Corridor. Improvements to be made with the funding also complement the investments proposed in the latest CRISI application, in addition to east-west passenger rail service, should state legislators, state officials, and other stakeholders decide to take necessary steps to provide additional service between Albany and Boston.

Amtrak photo

MassDOT has submitted an application for more than $108 million in federal funding for rail corridor improvements between Springfield and Worcester to restore Inland Route intercity passenger rail service.

Longroad Energy to Build Maine’s Largest Solar Project

Maine is about to get its largest solar farm, a project designed to help the state in meeting its climate goals of getting 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, reported EcoWatch.

The project also is projected to avoid carbon dioxide emissions that are the equivalent of removing approximately 30,000 cars from the road each year.

Longroad Energy, a renewable energy developer based in Boston, Mass., announced that construction began earlier in November on the 152-megawatt Three Corners Solar project in Kennebec County. The company predicts the $200 million solar farm will produce enough electricity for about 30,000 homes annually and cut about 140,000 metric tons of carbon emissions over a 12-month period.

The agreement for EDF Energy Services to buy the power from Longroad and supply it to its New England customers is the largest corporate energy deal in the history of the region’s power grid.

“We are glad to reach this important milestone and grateful for the support of the [Kennebec County] towns of Benton and Clinton, and the residents of the area,” said

Longroad Energy’s Chief Development Officer Matt Kearns, who lives in Scarborough, Maine, adding that $200 million projects “do not come along every day in Maine.”

The Bangor Daily News noted that the Three Corners Solar project is just one of several green energy projects in the state.

“This project will be an important resource for Maine to help meet its clean energy objectives and will deliver significant economic benefits to Kennebec County and the region,” Kearns explained.

With most of the construction set to occur next year, he told the Bangor news source the solar farm is planned to go online by early 2024. The project will stretch across

the towns of Clinton and Benton, and the unincorporated Unity Township.

“Large projects can get done in Maine, and we need to be able to do this work if we’re going to meet our climate goals,” Kearns continued. “It’s a massive investment in clean energy.”

Solar Farm Nestled Within a Forest

Partially chosen for its proximity to the electrical grid, the land for the massive solar project has been in the Bessey family — now owned by the family’s wood brokerage firm Bessey Development Co. — for more than five generations. Formerly used for commercial timber harvesting, some of the land also had been cultivated for corn by a tenant farmer.

The visibility of solar farms in the state has a history of being an annoyance to Maine residents, which has led Longroad, in part, to choose a site for the Three Corners Solar project in a forested area, hidden from public view.

Longroad plans to cut down 690 acres of trees to make way for the solar panels, and Kearns said the company also will be improving roads and other pathways to access the complex.

He added that Longroad was cautious about avoiding wetlands and worked to reduce its environmental impact on the site, but that some effects were inevitable due to the size of the project. Prior to the start of construction, two years of assessments were conducted by Maine-based environmental consulting companies, as well as with local university graduates, he told the Daily News.

“We had to make sure we were avoiding vernal pools and other features to make sure that the project minimizes any impact to wildlife,” Kearns explained.

To comply with Maine’s conservation policies for the reduction of environmental effects, Longroad Energy has conserved 1,875 acres, which includes 1,020 acres in the Unity Wetlands Focus Area.

The company said “high value wetlands, deer wintering areas, inland waterfowl wading bird habitat, and critical terrestrial habitat” will be protected through the conservation agreements, the Bangor news outlet reported.

Just two years ago, Longroad built a 72.6megawatt wind energy project in Hancock County, Maine, and has plans for a 1,000megawatt wind project, as well as a roughly 100-megawatt solar project, in Aroostook County. 

Conn.’s Quinnipiac Eyes Building ‘University of the Future’

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plan to working with the planning and zoning commission.”

Throughout the nearly two-year process, there has been collaboration with students, administrators, faculty, the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, and the broader Hamden and North Haven communities, Quinnipiac Today reported.

Nancy Dudchik, president of the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce, was one of the community leaders who worked closely with the university since the project’s earliest planning stages.

“I was proud to have been a part of the process in support of Quinnipiac University,” she said Dec. 14. “Last night’s approval of the three new buildings that will create the South Quad is an exciting and necessary chapter for the university’s growth and competitiveness. It’s an important step in the university’s decision to have all [undergraduates] reside on campus as well as adding two new academic buildings.”

The two academic buildings and residence hall will support student learning and social development, while providing faculty

with modern facilities for research, advanced pedagogy and immersive learning approaches that model future careers, the university said.

“Together, we are building the ‘University of the Future,’ recognizing the vision of the strategic plan, commissioned under the leadership of President Judy Olian,” Zemba added.

The Quinnipiac Board of Trustees first approved the project in January. Its construction will be funded through a combination of the university’s endowment, philanthropic efforts and debt financing.

South Quad Built for Modern Learning

Quinnipiac’s School of Business will feature an innovation hub to act as an incubator for building and testing ideas. In addition, it will house:

• A financial technology center where students will use cutting-edge trading platforms, investment tools and data systems.

• Offices for faculty members.

• Flexible lecture and event spaces that can seat up to 150 people for any size gathering.

• An environmentally conscious central energy plant for the business school.

“The South Quad project is a momentous

investment in the future of education at Quinnipiac,” said Holly Raider, dean of the School of Business. “The future home of the School of Business will spark collaborative learning experiences, provide added space for academic and career advising for students, and will accelerate innovation in new areas of study.”

Quinnipiac’s new general academic building will feature wet and dry labs, space to expand the university’s computing programs, new classrooms, collaborative spaces for breakout and group study, and offices for deans and faculty. It also will house a modern auditorium to seat more than 700 people for both college and community events.

The South Quad’s residence hall will include single- and double-rooms, accommodate more residential students on campus, and enrich the living-learning experience, Quinnipiac Today noted. The air-conditioned building will offer extracurricular opportunities for students to gather, build a community, and advance their career readiness and emotional well-being through the design of proper spaces. The structure also will include lounges and an outdoor courtyard.

“Our new residence hall will bring the idea of a living-learning community to a

new level,” predicted Tom Ellett, chief experience officer at Quinnipiac. “It offers new opportunities for our students to collaborate and grow with each other, as well as with faculty. In fact, the new residence hall includes an apartment for a new faculty-inresidence, [like] that at other leading institutions of higher learning.”

Structures to Benefit Their Environment

The university’s new South Quad — like its Recreation and Wellness Center — will be constructed with the environment in mind.

“Each of the three buildings has been designed to be LEED certified, promoting a healthy regional ecosystem that stimulates students, faculty, and staff to practice sustainable behaviors in their personal and professional lives,” explained Sal Filardi, Quinnipiac’s vice president of facilities and capital planning.

Virtually every detail has been planned to be of benefit to area habitats, including native species of plants, rain gardens and lights that prevent light pollution — something praised by area environmental organizations. A new water-filtration system also will ensure that any water leaving the area is clean.

Photo courtesy of Longroad Energy

The Three Corners Solar project in Benton, Clinton and Unity Township in Kennebec County, Maine, began construction in November 2022.

Crews Remove Old Telescope to Make Way for Planetarium

Once described as “a wonder of the space age,” a telescope that served as the centerpiece of the Stamford Observatory in Connecticut for the last 57 years was moved so that a new planetarium can be built at the site.

The Gregory-Maksutov telescope was hoisted from its long-time resting place Oct. 18, and carefully placed on a trailer for a 1,900-mi. cross-country journey to Magdalena, N.M. There, it will be refurbished and made operational at the Astronomical Lyceum facility.

The telescope’s departure signaled a major milestone in the development of a planned 10,000-sq.-ft. planetarium and astronomy center that will replace the dilapidated and abandoned Connecticut observatory, which sits on the campus of the Stamford Museum & Nature Center.

“It’s truly going to be a world class gem for our city,” Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons said during a brief press conference before the telescope’s removal.

Stamford-based crane operator Frank Compo & Sons, the same company in charge of installing the telescope in 1965, lifted and removed it from the observatory, according to the Middletown Press.

Planetarium’s Construction to Start

Now that the 2,000-lb. instrument is gone, the next step will be demolishing the decommissioned observatory, condemned in 2018 due to deterioration, including extensive mold.

Melissa Mulrooney, CEO of the Stamford Museum & Nature Center, said demolition would start in December, and that work would begin on the new structure next spring. Construction is expected to last about 16 months, she estimated, with an opening planned for the fall of 2024.

Mulrooney said she and other museum officials have discussed potential supply chain issues but will not know the challenges ahead until all the materials used for construction are chosen.

The budget for the new planetarium project is around $10.5 million, she told the Press. About half, or $5 million, has been acquired from the state, including $3 million from the office of Connecticut’s previous Gov. Dannel Malloy, along with another $1 million coming from the Stamford city coffers. Mulrooney also noted that the museum and nature center is pitching in an additional $1.5 million, meaning about $2.5 million to $3 million

still needs to be raised.

The new astronomy center will feature three levels, including a 100-seat planetarium auditorium, two classroom spaces, a public outdoor viewing deck and a room housing both lunar and solar telescopes.

“This finally will bring back the signature that is our astronomy and science programming,” she explained.

The future astronomy center is only the second phase of the major renovations planned for the museum’s 118-acre campus.

The first was completed in 2018 with the opening of the Knobloch Family Farmhouse, which includes an outdoor classroom, a cidery and a maple sugar house. Once the new planetarium project opens, officials will move to build a new museum.

Old Telescope to Get New Life

Even though the old Stamford Observatory telescope has left the city, the museum will still have remote access to the instrument’s imaging of the New Mexico sky once it is set up.

John Briggs, a telescope and observatory engineer with the Lyceum observatory, will lead the effort to install Stamford’s tele-

scope at the new site. He first visited the Stamford Observatory half a century ago when he was a high school student attending a scientific symposium.

“It’s mind blowing to me to be back here 49 years later, because certainly as a young teenager visiting here, I could never have dreamed that I would someday be part of the team taking responsibility for the future of this telescope,” he said.

Briggs described the Gregory-Maksutov telescope as “a wonder of the space age.”

“The people who built it were particularly gifted engineers who had a love of astronomy,” he said.

The telescope’s name comes from the two people who designed it: Russian optician Dmitri Maksutov was the creator of the 22-in. research telescope within the structure, and John Gregory, a Fairfield County Astronomical Society member, modified the Maksutov design to convert the telescope into a wide-field camera.

Briggs said Stamford Observatory is well known among the community of telescope enthusiasts for housing the GregoryMaksutov telescope.

“It’s very important that these orphan telescopes find appropriate homes and futures to inspire ongoing generations,” he said.

Stone Company Again Leads e-Evolution

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“He went above and beyond for us to get the machine, including working with the state on funding to help us buy it,” said Cleary.

The machine was delivered in November, giving them the first fully electric wheel loader in North America.

“We are so happy that the first electric CWL went to a company like Cleary Stone, who is passionate about being a good steward of the environment,” said Stephen Roy, president of Region North America, Volvo CE. “The work they and their customers do is perfect for this machine.”

John Cleary, who is now 82, did stone work as a side job in his younger days simply because it interested him.

“People wanted the stone that I didn’t think was quite good enough to use, and it made me wonder: How much would they like the higher quality stone?” he recalled.

So he made it his full-time gig. As the business grew, he got a Volvo EC210 mid-sized excavator and became hooked on the brand.

John’s grandson, Alex Bergeron, began riding along with him in the skid

steer at age 3, and as the equipment got bigger, so did Alex’s interest in the business. He is now part owner and will take over someday.

The family-owned and -operated company employs six people during its busiest times of the year.

In 2017, Cleary Stone purchased a conventional diesel version of the L20 compact wheel loader. They loved its size, maneuverability and versatility. So when an electric version hit the market, the team was excited.

“It felt like a no-brainer because we see the industry moving that direction and want to be on the forefront of that,” said Cleary.

“I’d say it runs smoother than the diesel, and I like how easy it is to change attachments,” said Bergeron. “Just this morning, I unloaded some pallets with a fork attachment, then switched to a bucket and loaded some crushed stone into a customer’s truck.”

The company already had some saws, a forklift and a Tesla running on electricity, so adding another outlet for charging the loader was simple.

“I don’t use it for a constant eight hours, so an overnight charge is plen-

ty,” said Bergeron. “And if I did need it all day, a lunchtime charge would be just fine.”

He also noted the instant power the electric machine provides versus the slight delay felt on a conventional machine, as well as work modes that provide just the right power for each attachment.

Working with their electric company, Green Mountain Power, and Palmer at CRW, Cleary Stone was able to subsidize some of the purchase price of its new L20 Electric.

“The original amount they wanted to give us was not huge, but once Chris demonstrated to them how much power we’d utilize they increased their offer,” said Bergeron.

Wood’s CRW Corporation is a family-owned company that started in Burlington in 1961.

Other local and state jurisdictions offer incentives as well, and those interested in learning more are encouraged to learn more here.

As alternatively powered equipment grows in availability and popularity, Cleary Stone is thrilled to be leading the way.

Maine Slates Rural Cornshop Bridge for

The Cornshop Bridge, on Depot Street in the picturesque New England town of Bridgton, Maine, is showing its age.

Built in 1947, the short bridge spans Stevens Brook, and has been targeted by the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) for replacement in 2025.

The agency currently is working on the initial stages of the project but has recently produced a “scope of work” video outlining the latest plan and why the bridge needs to be replaced. MaineDOT also is looking for public comments.

Julie Brask, MaineDOT’s project manager, told the Bridgton News that the bridge rebuild will use both state and federal funding. The project is due to be advertised to potential contractors in 2024 with boots-onthe-ground activity not likely until the year after.

The 75-year-old structure is just over 40 ft. long and is made up of a simple steel span with a reinforced concrete deck. Its width is 22 ft. curb to curb with a painted sidewalk on the upstream side.

The News reported that the building project will consist of a full rebuild of the bridge on its current site — what MaineDOT calls an “on-alignment replacement.”

The state agency proposes that the Cornshop Bridge be closed during construction with all traffic detoured to U.S. Highway 302.

Structure Suffering From Deterioration

Lauren Flanders, a senior structural engineer with the Portland office of Stantec, told the Bridgton News that the project is currently in its early design phase with state transportation officials gathering information and looking at alternatives.

She added that the old bridge’s stacked granite abutments, which predate the 1947 construction, are in “poor condition,” noting that the timber grillage is “rotting.”

Flanders described the granite abutment

in 2025

as having “many wide, deep voids and evidence of shifting and settling, including cracked and out-of-plumb stones.” She explained that the northeast wingwall has severe damage and “has failed and slumped into the river.”

Other existing problems include:

• Exterior beams that are heavily corroded, including “holes and heavy flaking” rust.

• Its interior beams have freckled rust and paint and are “heavily deteriorated” at the ends.

• The bridge deck has multiple areas of poorly joined concrete with exposed and corroded rebar.

• Many small cracks can be seen on its paved wearing surface.

• The guardrail’s safety is substandard for a bridge of its length and height over water, and the curb has deteriorated since its last replacement in 1989.

According to Flanders, the new bridge span will be between 40- to 60-ft.-long and will include either precast NEXT Beams or composite G-beams (girder beams), each with cast-in-place concrete decks.

The state’s plan calls for replacing the painted sidewalk on the Cornshop Bridge with a raised pedestrian walkway.

Flanders noted that “closing the bridge during construction is the best option for traffic control.”

The next step in MaineDOT’s schedule for the project is to have its preliminary bridge plan complete in July 2023, followed by an on-demand formal public meeting in August before construction begins in early 2025.

The project is due to be advertised to potential contractors in 2024 with boots-on-the-ground activity not likely until the year after.

The 75-year-old structure is just more than 40 ft. long and is made up of a simple steel span with a reinforced concrete deck.

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