Replacing Memorial School Roof to Begin Soon

Replacement of the Memorial Elementary School roof is on schedule to begin next week and town and school officials are working to resolve the remaining issues that exist.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Kevin Reich and Memorial School Principal Karen Fitzsimmons met with Police Chief Matt Reimondo, Public Works Director Keith Hayden and a representative from the East Hampton Little League on Monday at the school to discuss the project and its impact on the school grounds and the community.

“Basically to give them a lay of the land of some of the challenges we’re going to have,” Reich said.

The last day of school is June 20 and the contractor, Silktown Roofing of Manchester, is scheduled to begin immediately with supplies and materials being delivered on June 21.

Work is expected to be completed in time for the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 4, the start of which was delayed until after Labor Day.

“We did that so we would have enough time to be able to, for all intents and purposes, complete the roof before the opening of school,” Reich said. “It doesn’t mean they might not be up there fine tuning little things, but a vast majority of the roof, they believe, will be done. … The goal is to have the vast majority of it completed before school opens.”

According to the contractor, the back parking lot will be used as a staging area, which presents one of the biggest challenges to the Little League.

The League depends on parking at the school grounds and with a heavy schedule of games at the adjacent Seamster Park during July, places to park will be at a premium.

“It was extremely important to them that they have as much parking as possible,” Reich said.

Still, there doesn’t appear much that can be done. Even if the entire back lot isn’t needed by the contractor, any overflow will have to park on Smith Street and perhaps Edgerton Street and Holly Drive as well. However, parking is exxpected to be limited to one side of the street with temporary signs being put up saying so.

“We also encourage the Little League to remind their parents that it would be good that they park on the street and the visiting community members are allowed to use the limited parking we have on site,” Reich said, adding that parking on the grass at the school isn’t an option.

The plan is to keep the playscape open but place some type of protective fencing to keep curiosity seekers and others away from the construction area.

During construction the school office will remain open, though Reich allowed for the possibility that there will be a day or two that it needs to close. The playground equipment at the back of the school will be off limits and typical activities normally held at the school, such as the preschool program and the special ed summer school program, will be moved to either Center school or the middle school.

Reich said Silktown Roofing does not intend to work weekends or extended days.

The roughly $2.8 million project will replace about 88,000 square feet of roof, or about two acres. Reich estimates that the state will reimburse the town about 64 percent.

There will be one notable difference in the new roof. It won’t be the shade of blue it is now.

In fact, it won’t be blue at all. To keep the roof its current color would have required a special order, Reich explained, and it would not have been received until sometime in July, which didn’t fit the timeframe needed. Also, it would have been more expensive.

So, in its place will be a color Reich called British England Racing Green, which is similar to hunter green.

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