Construction

photos: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer Construction of the new $75 million Centre at Hagerstown shopping complex is on schedule for a spring 2000 opening, Scott R. Schroeder, spokesman for Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty Corp., said Tuesday. The shopping center, at the intersection of Interstate 81 and U.S. 40, is fully leased, Schroeder said. It will contain more than 40 stores and restaurants, including Wal-Mart Super Center, Home Depot, Borders Books and Music, Pier 1 Imports, Circuit City and PetSMart.

The changes under way at Hagerstown Community College are so striking that people are wondering whether it's still open, a school official said. Construction crews have carved out a hillside beside the administration building to make way for a $9 million Learning Resource Center, and behind the adminstration building, workers are constructing a day-care center. Across the campus, workers are digging trenches to extend a new air conditioning system to buildings. At times, all the construction looks like a "mound of ants" working, said school spokeswoman Patti Churchey.

Washington County is looking for volunteers to sit on a newly formed nine-member committee that will review Board of Education construction projects exceeding $2 million. The County Commissioners on Tuesday voted on the size of the Advisory School Design Review Committee. The county's Building Excise Tax Ordinance requires the commissioners to appoint the committee. The commissioners plan to appoint the county's public works director, two citizens at large, the school board's director of facilities, a mechanical contractor, an electrical contractor, a general contractor, an educator and the school board's facilities manager.

A tower has taken shape at the site of the new Washington County Regional Medical Center at Robinwood. The hospital will have three five-story towers. Steel erection for the south tower was completed earlier this month and the west tower was started last week, hospital spokeswoman Nicole Jovel said. Crews plan to start steel erection for the east tower in January, she said. The hospital is scheduled to open in December 2010.

Construction crews are to begin work on Hagerstown's new parking deck today, although the $3.1 million garage will not open until sometime next year. City officials have said they consider the five-story, 202-space garage to be integral to boosting downtown business. The deck will be on the block surrounded by East Washington, South Locust, East Antietam and South Potomac streets, but will not face any of those streets. It will be behind a South Potomac Street project being orchestrated by The Bowman Group, which plans to provide residential, restaurant and office space.

West Virginia University will offer a free training class in September for residential construction workers and supervisors. The three-hour training class will be offered Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. to noon at a yet-to-be-determined location in Hagerstown. Pre-registration is required. Instructors will discuss fall hazards that occur during each phase of residential construction, and safe alternatives will be presented for several potential fall hazards that often occur during home building and construction.

The Washington County Board of Education is considering whether to make a policy change that would require the board to approve certain construction projects that cost more than $50,000. The change was discussed Thursday during a policy committee meeting. Deputy Superintendent Boyd Michael said the change would cover projects such as the construction of pressboxes and concession stands that the school system takes on with private organizations. The board could vote on the policy change as early as next month, Michael said.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation is in the process of a bridge resurfacing project on southbound I-81 just inside the West Virginia/Maryland line, according to Maryland State Police. Because of the lane closure, traffic is heavily congested on southbound I-81 in Maryland, state police said.  State police suggest motorists traveling that route to expect heavy delays.  Maryland State Police ask motorists who can to find alternate routes of travel to avoid further traffic congestion.

FREDERICK, Md. - Nearly 80 new jobs will be created in Western Maryland as a result of new construction and renovation at Frederick Community College. On Tuesday, Gov. Parris N. Glendening announced Board of Public Works approval of a $5,409,730 construction contract, which includes a state grant of $3.297 million for constructing, furnishing and equipping the new Business and Technology Center and renovation of the college's lecture hall. The contract was awarded to McAlister-Schwartz Company of Rockville, Md. Construction will begin this month and completion is expected in August 1999.

An extreme shortage of trained tradesmen in Washington County led Associated Builders and Contractors to take extreme steps a year ago, creating the Cumberland Valley Technology Center. The unique, state-of-the-art school is located on the ABC "campus" at 319 W. Howard St. "This is training for jobs that have opportunities for advancement and good pay," said Joan Warner, ABC executive director. Warner said studies show that 20 out of 100 trained tradesmen will someday own their own businesses - a claim few other professions can make.