New London Office of Development and Planning relocates due to building's potential structural issue
New London — The Office of Development and Planning is in the process of relocating from the Stanton Building at 111 Union St. to temporary office space in City Hall due to a potential structural issue with the building.
Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said the problem, which was first discovered Wednesday, could keep ODP out of its usual offices for several weeks.
“They are in the process of moving as we speak; they will be meeting in the morning to get whatever remaining materials they need from the Stanton Building and will be operational here out of City Hall by midday tomorrow,” Finizio said Thursday. “They continued to do their work in temporary space in the Stanton Building yesterday and today to ensure the functions of their offices continued to be met.”
Assistant Building Official Rick Maurice said workers discovered corrosion to part of the flooring substructure when replacing carpeting on the third floor as part of ongoing renovations to the building. Workers will have to open up the ceiling below to check for further corrosion. The floor, Maurice said, has since been “shored up.”
“It’s still being reviewed by the engineers, but by tomorrow we should know exactly what’s going on,” Maurice said Thursday. “It’s not dangerous right now.”
The building at 111 Union St. houses the Office of Development and Planning, the Building Inspection Division, the Department of Public Works and other city departments, but only ODP will have to relocate, Finizio said.
Tammy Daugherty, director of the Office of Development and Planning, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
For the next several weeks, Finizio said, ODP will operate out of the second floor City Hall office that used to house the tax assessor’s office.
“This continues to be yet another example of the condition many city buildings are in,” Finizio said. “Our capital plan, we need to act on it. Whether it’s the Martin Center and Senior Center, City Hall or the Stanton Building, they are all in need of a lot of work.”
c.young@theday.com
Twitter: @ColinAYoung
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