NEWINGTON - With Newington High School Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) code compliance work that includes an addition to the band room and an air conditioning system for the auditorium scheduled to begin this summer, the town has hired a local contractor for the job.

       The Newington Town Council voted unanimously to accept an $828,870 bid from Pioneer Builders at its April 22 meeting. The Council opted to waive the rules regarding items under new business in order to take action on the proposal.

       â€�"The reason for doing this tonight is so that work can be done during the summer period,” said Councilor David Nagel. â€�"Because of the constraints of getting this done during the summer and the prep work, we talked about getting a quorum.”

       Pioneer Builders’ bid was low for a project in which the anticipated cost was $899,219. Millennium Builders, the second lowest bidder, also came under the projected number with an $848,700 offer. The only firms bidding over the $899,219 were J.A. Rosa Construction, LLC of Wolcott and Rudolph Netsch Construction Company, Inc. from Chester. They each would have cost over $1 million.

       The project is the third phase of a $5 million ADA code compliance and PCB abatement plan that has so far included sidewalk replacement, the widening of doorways for better handicapped accessibility and the redesigning of wheelchair ramps with landings at halfway points. It will add storage space for instruments and expand the music program’s band room.

       The air conditioning for the auditorium is a bonus, Superintendent of Schools Bill Collins has said.

       The third phase, which will cost $1 million on its own, already saw handicapped accessibility renovations for the lighting area and two music rooms, as well as the removal of PCBs found underneath the stage. The ADA compliance measures required the creation of more space, prompting changes that eliminated some of the components being restored in this next move, Nagel said.

       â€�"With that you needed more space, so when the configuration was done for more space, you took away the storage space,” he said.