The New Hampshire Institute of Art selected Milestone Engineering and Construction to take on the role of construction manager for the relocation, renovation and addition to 88 Lowell St.
The project entails the relocation of the original Manchester High School across the site, the historic restoration of the building into classroom and studio space, and the construction of an adjacent six-story addition to house classrooms, studios and dormitories.
Milestone chose EnviroVantage to take on the abatement and demolition procedures.
EnviroVantage took the lead in the project by gutting the building. The old abandoned structure had severe fire damage and also contained a great deal of asbestos. The EnviroVantage team removed all the windows and frames and demolished the interior walls, ceiling and flooring right down to the structural frame.
The team also demolished the brick addition containing a boiler room and a safe room, as well as the front portico and steps. These were not easy tasks to conquer due to the tight space and closeness of the buildings next door. All materials that could be recycled from the demolition debris were taken care of while the rest was cleaned up appropriately.
Asbestos was present and posed hazards in the ceiling tiles, under the stairs, in the boiler room and pipe insulation in the entire basement area. The necessary containment was set up and over 730 linear s/f of asbestos was properly abated and disposed of by EnviroVantage. The building now passes all asbestos clearance tests and the rest of the contractors have a safe, asbestos-free work zone in which to begin the building renovation.
The entire structure will be moved forward, closer to the street. This will allow extra space for the six-story addition to be designed with the LEED building standards and constructed adjacent to the original building. The entire project is scheduled for completion in September.