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There's a lot happening at the Library, which you have probably noticed based on the ladders, safety cones, bangs, clangs, and even the occasional sparks flying during welding (literally and, unfortunately, right after Valentine's Day, so I missed the opportunity for some punny "Sparks fly at your local library" content). It's occasionally disruptive and often loud, but it's always a sign of progress and that's a beautiful thing!
A common concern voiced during the leadup to our bond vote was about oversight on this project--who watches the watchmen, if you will. Our Board of Trustees shared this concern and prioritized hiring a reputable construction management firm to lead us through this process. We've been working with Calgi Construction with two project managers, David Chen and Dorian De Laurentiis, who have been overseeing our budgets, plans, processes and meetings; David has been managing the larger project (i.e. the retaining wall repairs and interior work) and Dorian has been working with us specifically on the RTU-6 portion of the project. We are incredibly fortunate to have them (and on a purely selfish note, they run extremely efficient meetings. These are the people you want in charge of a project!).
So what does this oversight look like in practice? Let's walk through it with the RTU-6 project, the SciFi sounding work currently taking place to install a new HVAC unit. It is a smaller project, but there are still multiple layers of experts managing it:
Dorian is the construction manager for this aspect of the project. He coordinates all of the various players (architects, engineers, contractors, and the OPL Team), oversees the budget and requests for payment, maintains the construction schedule, monitors issues (AKA Requests for Information/RFIs, check me out with my lingo!) and verifies that they have been resolved--basically, he keeps the entire project and everyone involved with it on track.
OLA is the engineering firm who is designing the new HVAC system and designed the installation of RTU-6. We've been working with James Dolan and Jonathan Katz throughout this project and they bring with them decades of engineering experience. In addition to the design work, OLA handles commissioning the project--which is another term for quality control. OLA will verify that all aspects of the project perform according to plan, identify priority issues early and ensure that they are resolved, visit the project site to observe work, train library personnel on equipment and test HVAC equipment on a seasonal basis.
Clean Air Quality Service is the contractor installing the Rooftop Unit and doing the day-to-day work at the Library. Clean Air's project manager is responsible for managing all of the work onsite, supervising subcontractors, and making sure that the Library facility and materials remain clean and safe during construction, and with minimal* disruption to Library services.
It takes a village, clearly! But we're fortunate that the village is full of highly credentialed experts who are guiding us through this project.
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