2019 Update #30
Summer’s End, A New Home for Bundle
The kids have headed back to school and our Summer is slowly yielding to Fall.
The downtown construction project, too, has its own rhythm and predictable patterns.
Like last year’s drainage system project, this year’s work in the rail corridor has become a methodical, day-by-day execution of the construction plan. Let’s catch up on the last week of August and look ahead to the first week of September.
Your Weekly Construction Update
This week Maine Drilling & Blasting continued drilling steel minipiles to stabilize the slope behind South Pleasant Street, moving north along the rail line from the two Smith Housing Partnership buildings to just short of the Bourdon Insurance building on Merchants Row.
As of Thursday evening, Maine D&B has installed 64 of the planned 330 steel minipiles and is on schedule to complete their work in December.
Work will stop at noon on Friday for the holiday weekend and resume on Tuesday morning.
Next week the drilling operation will shift to the opposite side of the tracks at the bottom of the Battell Block parking lot and begin installing minipiles up along the Battell driveway toward Merchants Row.
The second Maine D&B drilling rig—the one with the annoyingly loud clatter—is expected to complete its work next week drilling a perimeter for the blasting needed to remove bedrock underneath the Main Street Bridge. That blasting gets underway the weekend of September 14-15 and I’ll have a full rundown on what to expect there next week.
It was an active week behind South Pleasant Street as Kubricky began constructing a new 15-inch town sewer line alongside the rail line to replace an older clay sewer pipe that runs on the Otter Creek side of the rail line. That line will be retired when the new one is put in service later this year. The sewer line work will eventually extend to the trestle bridge across Otter Creek and is expected to be completed in September.
Finally, the 2019 project storyboards are now mounted in front of the Post Office. These are designed to tell the overall story of the project and to educate the community and visitors about the support of excavation work that is the principal construction activity this year.
A Change of Address
Bundle @ 60 Main, the popular pop-up storefront in the former Clay’s space on Main Street, has announced that it is moving to 51 Main in September.
One of Bundle’s goals in taking up residence on Main Street was to demonstrate the value of the Clay’s space to potential renters. Mission accomplished. Buy Again Alley, the second-hand store for teens and young adults founded by Jutta Miska in January 2016, will be relocating from Frog Hollow up to 60 Main next month. I know Jutta would appreciate your stopping by to say hello once they’re open for business. And you can learn more about Buy Again Alley here.
Middlebury College, which has held a long-term lease on 51 Main (empty since Rough Cut closed its doors) has made it possible for Bundle to move into this prime Battell Block location.
Up first in the new space is a Swing Dance Crash Course on Friday, September 6, from 7 to 9 PM. This is your chance to learn swing dance basics in one evening. No need for previous experience or a partner. Space is limited so register now here.
The following week at Bundle is “Forming Inspiration,” a hand-lettering workshop hosted by Wander on Words. That takes place on Friday, September 13, from 6 to 8 PM. To register, email colleen@wanderonwords.com. Cost is $20.
Bundle is an innovative program developed by Neighbors Together in collaboration with the Better Middlebury Partnership and Bundle Creative Director Kelly Hickey and funded by VTrans to promote Middlebury’s downtown business community.
Notes from Around Town
A big thank you to George Klohck and friends at Middlebury United Methodist Church for tending the Neighbors Together flowers downtown the past two weeks. Next week friends from Middlebury Congregational Church led by Pat Chase will take over for the month of September. Volunteers have been so grateful to hear the compliments and thank you’s of passersby as they water. Amy Hastings says let's hope our flowers last a few more weeks as fall breezes begin to blow!
Porter Medical Center’s contribution to our summer-long walking challenge continues next Tuesday at Mary Hogan with a brief talk by Porter Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Michael Seaton on “Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep.” We could all benefit from that. Things get underway every Tuesday at 5:15 PM.
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.