WOODBURY — Amid the daily hustle and bustle, students’ attention has been drawn to an unexplained trench between the tennis courts and greenhouses. This is not the work of a rogue landscaper; it’s a step toward the upgrade of new campus facilities.
The pit marks the path for a network of PVC piping, snaking its way from the newly built horse barn and sap house, weaving around the greenhouses, and cutting across the driveway into the agriscience building, paving the way for upgraded electrical and WiFi capabilities.
“Originally, it was only supposed to be [dug] from the end of the greenhouses, across the way, to the new buildings,” said Lee McMillan, Nonnewaug’s natural resources instructor and agriscience program director. “The problem is the greenhouse infrastructure, with a 60-amp electrical box, would not support the electrical needs of the new barn, sap house, and storage building.”
A needs assessment was conducted, and it was determined that a 150-amp service would be sufficient, but that it would require a whole new trench and conduit system.
This led to a pivot in the project’s direction, with the wiring now being fed into the electrical panel in the AG building, which has sufficient power supply.
“Most of the trenching from the garage, across the path to the fields down below and into the hills was relatively short, only taking about two days and 15 or so hours,” said Nonnewaug principal Mykal Kuslis. “That project started Monday, [March] 18 in anticipation of crossing the driveway on Friday, [March] 22. That day was chosen because there would be no students in the building, and it was estimated that the job would take about 8-9 hours to complete.”
The horse barn project itself dates back to 2015, when it was originally discussed and approved. It was then put on hold for some time during COVID. This year has been the busiest, finally breaking ground and starting construction.
The entire project’s completion is slated for the end of March. This timeline includes finishing the interiors of the new buildings, finalizing the electrical, and the barn paddocks.
“Of course it looks unsightly until the grass grows back again,” said McMillan. “We’ll have to fix where they had to cut into the driveway and at some point put down more asphalt.”
Naturally, the project hasn’t been without its financial hurdles. Avoiding complications with existing structures added to the scope of the project.
“We had to go up and around the greenhouses,” said McMillan. “We were trying to avoid more costs, but the greenhouses were not going to support our needs, unfortunately.”
With the completion of this wiring, the project has now reached a new phase of completion.
“We have power run to the existing horse barn, new horse barn, sap/storage barn, [and] greenhouses,” said Region 14 facilities director Mike Molzon. “There is nothing else out there that doesn’t have power.”
Despite some challenges, and the temporary inconvenience, the campus community and those involved in the ag program look forward to the enhanced capabilities that this upgrade will bring.
“The biggest obstacle has been bringing the barn up to the needs we have in 2024,” said Kuslis. “When originally designed, the program, and thus our needs, were much more simple. Since then, we have grown and believe we have the capacity for much more. As a result, we have had to improve, upgrade, and or add many things. Although the electrical was probably the biggest piece, there have been many other additions which have increased the scope of the project and made it take longer. We do believe, however, that the barn will fully meet our needs, with the potential to expand, if needed in the future.”
