2018 Update #34
What Heat?
Despite the week’s rather warm weather, Kubricky and its construction partners made solid progress at all three construction sites downtown. Let’s review where we are.
As planned, Maine D&B completed the latest round of blasting in Printer’s Alley on Monday. That took our launch pit down to about 12 feet shy of its planned depth of 38 feet. ECI will excavate the fractured rock from that blast early next week, with another round of blasting scheduled to take place later in the week, working around Festival on the Green’s noontime and evening concert schedule.
As I mentioned last week, to ensure the safety of workers in the deepening launch pit, now and during the upcoming tunnel boring process, Maine D&B is in the process of installing rock anchors to secure any loose seams on the rock face of the pit. Maine D&B is also installing what are called “rockfall drape anchors”; from these will be hung high-tensile steel wire mesh netting to protect workers in the pit from any falling rock.
Over in Riverfront Park, Hayward/Baker has completed its work stabilizing the slope extending from the National Bank’s parking lot to Otter Creek. H/B will conduct some verification testing at the location early next week, following which Kubricky will do some minor excavation work. That will wrap up this phase of work in Riverfront Park.
Also as planned, this week Kubricky began building the temporary access road connecting Water Street to the Battell Building parking lot. The photo here shows the start of the gravel roadway at the end of Water Street. By week’s end, Kubricky expects to have cleared much of the area along Otter Creek north toward the Battell Building. Work will continue next week.
The latest word from Kubricky on Triangle Park is that work will begin there the week of July 16. Until then, the five parking spots on Main Street alongside the park will remain open to the public.
The Water Brigade
The flowers in our many downtown planters (courtesy of Neighbors Together) would not have fared well in this heat without watering. Stephanie Volk and Amy Palmer from the National Bank of Middlebury have done a fabulous job of keeping our flowers fresh. Also volunteering for the water brigade were Pat Chase, Helmut Hietzker, and Emily Fairchild from the Congregational Church.
Peasant Market and Festival on the Green
The much-anticipated annual St. Stephen’s Peasant Market takes place on the Town Green this Saturday, July 7, from 9 am to 2 pm. Word from the organizers is that there is a bumper crop of good stuff this year. Weather will be delightful. Come on down!
And right behind Peasant Market arrives the weeklong 40th Annual Festival on the Green with its kickoff concert on Sunday night at 7 pm. Check out the full schedule of Festival events here.
Kubricky will be halting all noise-generating activity in the central downtown between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm during the week of Festival on the Green so as not to disrupt the children's concerts that get underway each day at noon.
And finally a reminder that Middlebury’s Henry Sheldon Museum will be offering visitors and locals a glimpse of Middlebury’s railroad history during Festival on the Green week.
The free exhibit, including a fabulous model train, will take place at the former diner on Merchant’s Row (next to Town Hall Theater) from Sunday, July 8 through Saturday, July 14. Exhibit hours are 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. The first 25 kids to come will receive an engineer’s hat.
That’s all for today. See you downtown.
Please keep your comments and questions coming. Send me an email at jgish@townofmiddlebury.org and I’ll try to cover it in my next update.