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Together, the Trumbull-Nelson team and
Woodstock officials create a spacious new town
garage. By Chad Malone
photos by Rich Frutchey
Woodstock’s new town garage is located on
the same site as the old one, just three miles from
the Village green on Route 4. It is a
75–by–150–foot, steel-framed, pre-engineered Butler
building with a 25–by–100–foot mezzanine. There is a
minor pitch to the roof. The building’s long axis is
orientated east to west, with overhead doors and
parking facing due south to maximize solar gain.
In early December 2006, the project was roughly a
week from completion, and Phil Swanson, Municipal
Manager for the town of Woodstock, was looking
forward to moving the town’s operations into the
building and making use of the added space and
intelligent design. According to Swanson, the
existing town garage was only providing about a
third of the space they needed and, as it was built
in 1952, had become somewhat outdated.
The new town garage is not only spacious, but
carefully planned. Aside from the orientation of the
building making good use of the sun, there were
other choices made throughout the process that will
ensure the building remains efficient for the
long-term.
Overhead doors face south to
maximize solar gain.
Ingrid Moulton, of Banwell Architects in Lebanon,
New Hampshire, who did the preliminary design for
the building, points to the solar panel equipment
that will be used to make electricity as one
example. Todd Thompson, Trumbull-Nelson’s Project
Manager, cites the owner’s decision to upgrade the
roof’s insulation by using Thermal Environment’s
Simple Saver System as another.
“We are very pleased with the way this project
turned out,” said Thompson. “Thanks to the
decision-making of Phil Swanson, Town Highway
Foreman Dave Green, and the selectmen (Bruce Gould,
Matt Maxham, and John Doten), this building will
provide years of efficient service to the town. They
all had clear ideas about what choices would provide
good value.”
While there is nothing but smooth sailing ahead,
this project did not come without its challenges. In
fact, Tim Schaal, the structural engineer
responsible for the building foundation, said, “On a
scale of one to ten the smoothness of the structural
engineering process was a five.”
The reason? Multiple challenges imposed by the site.
Situated on a 25-foot-tall, 10 percent slope, a lot
of sitework was required, and Willis Consulting
engineers had to be enlisted to provide a
steep-slope design for the fill side of the
building. Moreover, poor soils had to be removed and
replaced, and the State of Vermont storm water
permits took nearly five months to obtain.
When asked how these challenges were overcome, Todd
Thompson attributed it to teamwork. “We had an
excellent working relationship with the Town, our
consultants, and our subcontractors,” he said.
Multiple challenges were
imposed by the site.
“Our consultants included Banwell Architects, Bruno
Associates, Willis Consulting, and Schaal
Engineering. All of them were responsive to the
project’s needs, and timely and pragmatic in their
approach. We also got great work from two local
subcontractors, Ottaquechee Plumbing and Heating and
LDT Electrical, whose expertise in designing and
coordinating mechanical and electrical systems was
surpassed only by their ability to staff the project
with experienced employees.”
Ingrid Moulton agreed, “From my standpoint, the
process couldn’t have gone any smoother. It went
according to schedule and came in under budget—can’t
get much better than that.”
“It has been a great project,” Phil Swanson
affirmed. “If anyone ever called me to talk about
Trumbull-Nelson, I’d recommend them.
“We went with Trumbull-Nelson because they’re a
local company with a great reputation and we’ve used
them in the past. The reason we felt comfortable
with Trumbull-Nelson is the same reason we now have
a great new facility—they’re reliable and good at
what they do.”
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