Why Construction Suddenly Halted at Fairhaven High School
You may have noticed that there has been some new construction by Fairhaven High School's turf athletic field. You may have also noticed that construction has halted. Here's what is going on.
Construction of a new building in the corner of the stadium was always part of the turf plan. Initially, the plan was for the building to host restrooms.
"We were told we wouldn't get a certificate of occupancy without restrooms," Fairhaven School Superintendent Tara Kohler said. "However, when we put the job out to bid we couldn't afford it, so we needed to talk about options."
The stadium needed two Americans With Disabilities Act restrooms, so Kohler says they determined with the building inspector that the storage area behind the current food shack should be retrofitted to make that happen.
After the change of plans for the restrooms, the new building in the front of campus would instead be used as storage to make up for the loss of the school's only storage area. The new storage building will eventually store the leftover turf, the equipment to maintain the turf, sports equipment, etc.
Kohler says the project was originally permitted with the town last fall, the foundation was poured, and a partnership was struck with Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School to have students build the storage facility.
"We can't say enough about how phenomenal this relationship has been with Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech," Kohler said. "The students have done an incredible job, and the administration has made the project seamless. The partnership has saved us a ton of money because there was no labor cost. We were even able to design the building to look like the other shack, which was important for the historical society and the alumni association."
Why Construction Has Halted
Construction has been put on hold while the Voc-Tech students are on summer vacation. However, another curveball on the project has come up from the zoning department. Kohler said that even though the project was permitted by the town's building inspectors, the zoning department had concerns that the new building should not have been built where it stands.
The project is now on hold as the location is debated.
"Our legal counsel has sent an opinion to the building inspector to say that there is an 'educational purposes' law that says this project should not be held up for anything," Kohler said. The letter also reminds the zoning board that permits have already been issued.
When Will the Building Be Complete?
Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech is intending to have their seniors restart the project when they return to school in the fall. However, if the school's permits are pulled or if occupancy issues arise, it will be hard to know when Fairhaven High School's storage building will be completed.
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