WATERBURY — Construction of the new Waterbury State Office Complex is underway, two and a half years after the facility, which has been described as the nerve center of state government, was damaged when floodwaters from Tropical Storm Irene inundated the compound in August 2011.
State officials Tuesday joined South Burlington contractor PC Construction to begin pouring the foundation for the $125 million project, which is the largest capital investment in the state’s history. The facility is expected to be completed in December 2015.
“What it means is jobs. It means stability for Waterbury’s downtown. It means that next time we get a 500-year flood, we won’t get flooded,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said at a news conference at the construction site.
“It means that we are going to deliver on our promise of rebuilding after Irene stronger and better than the way she found us,” he said.
The new foundation will be elevated 8 feet above existing grade, state officials say. The building is designed to be LEED Gold certified with insulated glass windows, solar panels on the roof and a wood-fired biomass heat generator.
The state hired PC Construction to tear down the flood-damaged offices. They began laying the foundation on Tuesday for an 86,000-square-foot office building, 20,000-square-foot central plant and maintenance facility, and other infrastructure, according to state officials.
The new offices will house 1,200 employees from the Agency of Human Services and the Department of Public Safety.
The state received $18 million from insurance covering the office complex, $34 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and approximately $73 million from the state’s capital budget, according to Mike Stevens, special project administrator for the Department of Buildings and Services.
