The Cooper Center for Active Living construction project held its monthly community update on Tuesday night to discuss updates and progress for the site.
The center was previously informally referred to as the Newton Center for Active Living or NewCAL.
In Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s State of the City address in February, the center was officially named the Cooper Center for Active Living in the City of Newton, in honor of the late Audrey Cooper.
Cooper, a long-time Newton resident, helped establish Newton’s original senior center in addition to her many other community-centered contributions such as service within the school system and volunteer work.
The official groundbreaking for the site of construction, with J&J Contractors as the general contractor, took place on March 7.
Josh Morse, Newton’s commissioner of public buildings, explained the fast-paced nature of the project to viewers at the meeting held on Zoom.
“They’re coming along quickly,” Morse said. “We’re at a stage where it is changing every day now.”
Last week, Morse gave a guided video tour of the project site.
Morse detailed how the project has maintained its schedule throughout much of the process, and plans on continuing to do so until its completion.
The project was previously delayed by a need to solicit more bids from contractors to complete the construction. The schedule was then revamped, with the opening date moved to fall 2025, according to the project’s website.
“We’re gonna continue to do our framing work through September, and roofing is going to get started after that,” Morse said. “And then we are still on track for masonry and interior roughing in October, and we’re still on track for our substantial completion in fall of 2025.”
According to Morse, the construction techniques the project employs, such as a panelized framing system, are a large part of why the construction has been able to proceed with few complications or delays.
“One of the advantages of this panelized system for wood frames is that the stuff gets assembled off-site, and then it’s all put together like building blocks or legos once it shows up,” Morse said.
Despite the project not being scheduled for completion for a full calendar year, Morse remains confident in the progress that has been made and is already making plans for the opening ceremony.
“We’re in the home stretch right now,” Morse said. “With Mignonne [Murray, Newton’s director of senior services] and her team, there’s a lot of things that we’re starting to plan and think of for the opening, because it will be here before you know it.”
