Penfield Deck Expected to Open July 4

The deck at the new center and westerly wings of Penfield Pavilion is expected to be open July 4, according to the chairman of the building committee overseeing the construction project.

"The decks will be open, the handicapped ramps will be open, exterior bathrooms and showers will be open, the concession stand will be open," James Gallagher, chairman of the Penfield Pavilion Building Committee, said Friday afternoon.

Gallagher said the concession stand would have a limited menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream and soda on July 4. He said both covered and uncovered parts of the new deck would be open, but interior parts of the pavilion's new wings aren't expected to be finished until July 11, with a ribbon cutting on the new pavilion tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. July 13.

Gallagher said the new pavilion has bathrooms accessible from outside the pavilion, which he said would be open July 4, as well as bathrooms accessible through a meeting room, which wouldn't be open July 4. "The brand-new bathrooms and showers constructed and accessible from the exterior will be open on the 4th," he said.

A temporary certificate of occupancy for the pavilion was issued late Friday afternoon by the town's Building Department, Gallagher said.

The $3.28 million project is on budget, Gallagher said. "We are completely within our budget. We haven't had to ask for any extra money for the project," he said.

The town's Board of Selectmen is scheduled to hear an update on the project at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

The reconstruction of Penfield Pavilion's center and westerly wings fell months behind schedule due to town Department of Public Works' crews being pulled off the project to handle the snowy winter and due to excessive amounts of peat under the pavilion's older wings, which required more excavation than originally planned. DPW crews demolished the center and westerly wings and built foundations for the new wings.

But the building committee approved paying A. Secondino & Son, Inc. of Branford $136,040 in overtime to get the pavilion done by July 4. The overtime money came out of the project's contingency account.

Gallagher said the new parking lot planned for the pavilion, which includes porous pavement to soak up rain, wouldn't be done this summer because it would interfere with beachgoers' use of the pavilion. He said that work would start in September.