Pinkerton Project Completes Next Phase of Construction
Construction of the new Pinkerton Academy is nearing completion.
The last beam has been placed in new construction that will upgrade the old Social Studies and Special Education wing, Pinkerton Academy said in a statement.
The building’s groundbreaking rite in early April was finalized by Alex Flanders, project manager at Eckman Construction and a member of Pinkerton’s 2009 Elegance.
“Having attended Pinkerton Academy as a student, it’s so exciting to return and have the opportunity to shape the campus and leave a lasting mark,” Flanders said.
The original construction, the Robert Frost English Wing, was built in the early 1970s as a transitional construction to meet the desires of a developing student population in the classroom. It had exceeded its expected lifespan.
Demolition and framing of the $20. 7 million allocation began in the summer of 2023 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.
Pinkerton Academy Principal Dr. Timothy Powers said the new construction will take up some of the land of the old one and feature renovated parking areas, as well as improved interior design to help students and visitors better navigate the building.
Once the metal structural segment of the task is complete, the next step is to make the construction waterproof, Flanders said.
Powers said it was a hugely vital moment in the school’s history and said he was proud that academics, current and former, were able to participate.
“The placement of the final beam is a key milestone in this important task,” Powers said. “Let our board members, staff, alumni and scholars point out that the beam underscores the broad and lasting impact the task will have on our university community. “—Katelyn Sahagian, Eagle Tribune
Old Homestead Farm in New Ipswich Applies for Exemption for Short-Term Rental Cabin
The owners of Old Homestead Farm in New Ipswich returned before the zoning board Thursday to request a new variance to expand a previously approved business on their farm by adding short-term rental cabins.
The farm, owned by Chelsea and Ben Hatcher, has already been granted an exemption to allow for an event pavilion, where the Hatchers plan to host weddings, parties, dances and networking events. The Hatchers have yet to complete the city’s approval process to the end. at the Planning Board for a review of the plan and said Thursday that they will wait until their expansion proposal is presented to the Zoning Board, to provide a complete picture to the plan-making committee.
Chelsea Hatcher explained that while preparing the plans for the space for the event, they learned that they didn’t have a space to prepare for the nuptials. They proposed building five huts, one about twice as long as the others, to serve as a bridal hall. suite and the others to serve as potential hotels for visitors on a wedding or other short-term occasions.
While that’s the primary motivation, Chelsea Hatcher said the couple are looking to make the rooms as “multifunctional” imaginable and are also requesting permission to allow short-term stays year-round, as possible accommodation for visitors or individuals. in the city, such as the annual Hillfest music festival.
“That’s what people are looking for,” Hatcher said, noting that New Ipswich currently has no hostels or similar places to stay in the city, which would be an alternative.
Chelsea Hatcher said the cabins would be prefabricated and delivered to the farm, and would be connected to electrical power and plumbing, but would not have a full kitchen. He argued that while the city ordinance is not particularly tailored to the type of project proposed in the model, the domain in which the farm is located allows for inns and campgrounds (although the Campground Ordinance specifies tents and RVs, not cabins) as a special exception, suggesting that short-stay cabins were spiritually in line with those allocations.
Chelsea Hatcher said the cottages would allow for the “natural comfort” of home, but emphasize the surrounding farm for a “luxury glamping” feel. He said it’s part of the farm’s ongoing project toward the functional aspects of farmland.
“The more time other people spend on the farm, the more they care about it,” he said.
The council agreed that the Hatchers had included the information needed to accept the request and set a date for the public hearing, but asked that certain elements be included in the formal presentation, adding a plan of the chimney, if the buildings would be provided with sprinklers. , a restriction on how long a guest can stay, a limit on the number of visitors, and any other restrictions that Hatchers would like to see taken into account.
The Board of Directors voted unanimously to consider the application complete, setting a site for Old Homestead Farm for April 23 at five p. m. and a public hearing on the waiver request on May 9 at 6 p. m. m. —Ashley Saari, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
Concord’s Regal Theatre closes Thursday
After 7:30 p. m. When “Kung Fu Panda 4” screens, the Regal Cinema on Loudon Road will close its doors for good, ending 28 years of multiplex movies at The Heights in Concord and marking the latest step in the redevelopment of the Steeplegate Mall.
The long-term construction of the seven-screen cinema is uncertain. The owners, Onyx Partners of Needham, Massachusetts, plan to convert the 9-acre Regal Cinema site and the adjacent 50 acres that house the Steeplegate Mall into a large advertising and residential complex, with about 625 apartments.
Onyx and the city are in negotiations over the plans. The biggest public hurdle is parking: Onyx needs to have just over 2,000 parking spaces on schedule, yet existing city codes require 3,254 spaces, even though the codes are being revised across the city. Onyx is a parking exemption consistent with the dwelling unit requirement, arguing that the mixed-use nature of the four- and five-story buildings, which would have businesses on the floor, makes the existing popular one unnecessary.
Developers are proposing to demolish the cinema and most of the food shopping centre to build a huge mixed-use complex with about 625 apartments. Three of the mall’s tenants, J. C. Penny, Altitude Trampoline Park and The Zoo Health Club, would remain in separate buildings because they have long-term leases.
Onyx did not apply to the city for a demolition permit to demolish the Regal Cinema building, a first step in its plans.
The movie theater dates back to 1996, when it opened as the 10-screen Canada Cinema, part a dozen years after the Steeplegate Mall opened as part of the construction of the city’s last giant open pine forest track. The site has replaced the property several times over the years and acquired through Cineworld in 2017, which retained the Regal name.
Like many movie theaters, Regal is dealing with declining movie attendance, a scenario that worsened due to pandemic lockdowns. Cineworld, in the UK, has been in bankruptcy for a year (Chapter 11), since last summer, and has closed about 150 Regal cinemas around the world. The United States as a component of that effort.
The closure will make the Red Rivers Theatre, a nonprofit on South Main Street, the only public movie theater in Concord. The nearest cinemas can be found in Hooksett, Tilton, and Manchester. —David Brooks, Concord Instructor