2020 Update #58
2020 Construction To Wrap Up Next Week
The Highlights
Winter shutdown begins Christmas week
Restoring Fifield Farm
Supporting our local restaurants
The 2020 construction season—one that likely will be remembered in Middlebury for many years to come—draws to a close next Friday, December 18.
The final phase of our downtown construction project will then resume at winter’s end in 2021 with final landscaping of Triangle Park, construction of the new Lazarus Park in Printer’s Alley, final paving of Main Street and Merchants Row, repaving of the Marble Works roadways, and a number of other tasks that will bring this five-year construction project to an end.
We’ll have a final construction update next week and then, following a break for the holidays, I’ll return in January to begin previewing the work plan for 2021.
In the meantime, let’s once again take a look at what got done during this week’s wintry weather and look ahead to the final week of 2020 construction.
Your Weekly Construction Update
Early next week I’ll join Kubricky, the VTrans inspection team, and our Department of Public Works on a final walk-through of the downtown construction site before the winter shutdown. As I mentioned last week, Kubricky has been working through a fairly extensive “punch list” of general clean-up and touch-up items.
Subcontractor Lafayette will be back in town on Friday for a final day’s work on the coated steel chain-link safety fence on the south end of the project and to install remaining roadway and parking signs, like the one at the intersection of Main and Merchants shown in our first photo below.
South of town Kubricky plans to finish clearing out the north side marshalling yard on Route 30 so that the field can be returned to the Fifield Farm. Kubricky will continue to lease land from the Fifield family for the south side marshalling yard through the end of the project.
As shown in our next photo, ECI was back in town on Thursday to improve the slope of the land on the northwest side of the u-walls up near County Tire in order to maintain a footpath for the many who use this area to walk between Middle Seymour Street and the Marble Works.
Finally, electrical contractor East View expects to install a back-ordered breaker in the electrical cabinets in Triangle Park on Thursday so that the wreaths installed on the new lamp posts by the Middlebury Fire Department can light up downtown during the holiday season.
A Second Opportunity To Pig Out
You may recall that this summer Neighbors Together and the Better Middlebury Partnership sponsored The Great Middlebury Pig Out to drive revenue at our local restaurants.
Funded by a VTrans marketing grant, the Pig Out was one of several creative initiatives designed to promote our downtown businesses this summer. It generated some $17,500 in revenue for our restaurants.
With that success in hand, NT and the BMP have announced a “holiday edition” of The Great Middlebury Pig Out.
Here’s how it works:
1. Save your receipt after dining in or taking out at any locally owned Middlebury restaurant between December 3 and 14.
2. Email your receipt to lovemiddlebury@gmail.com by December 16. If your receipt shows that you also purchased a gift card, you will be entered twice.
3. Wait for an email letting you know if you won one of several prizes of Middlebury Money valued at between $20 and $500. The drawing takes place next Thursday, December 17.
Flatbread, Two Bros, Rosie’s, Ups, Fire & Ice, Sabai Sabai, the Arcadian, Rice, Mad Taco—whatever your favorite restaurant, now’s a good time to invest in our downtown, get a great meal, and maybe even win some cash for the holidays. They need your support now more than ever!
And to get a look at some of the great meals available, I would encourage you to check out the BMP's Instagram page. Search on Experience Middlebury.
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.