Day 80: Foundation Complete, underground utilities are being installed! Building Goes Vertical Sept 22nd
Foundation Complete! Building Goes Vertical in Two Weeks
This week marks a major milestone for Open Play Pickleball and Padel Club—the end of our foundation work! After weeks of careful planning and execution, we poured our final concrete on Monday, bringing the foundation phase to a successful completion.
Foundation Wrap-Up and Smart Planning Pays Off
The rest of the week was all about the finishing touches: stripping concrete forms, back-filling, and installing under-slab utilities. Here's where some early smart planning really paid dividends—to make life easier for our plumber, we installed sleeves for water and sewer pipes before pouring the concrete. Once the concrete hardened, there was no need for time-consuming drilling. Instead, pipes simply slid into the pre-installed sleeves! As a result, trenches were quickly excavated and pipes laid with remarkable efficiency.
Utilities Moving Forward Full Steam
Speaking of utilities, we're making significant progress on multiple fronts. Eversource dedicated an entire Tuesday to our project, working on the permanent electrical connection and connecting the new street pole they installed specifically to bring power to our club. We've also secured our water permit from the Department of Public Works and received approval to proceed with the sewer connection from the private wastewater treatment plant.
Expert Inspection and Green Light for Stormwater System
Matt Leidner, our Civil Engineer, made his first on-site visit since we broke ground. He thoroughly inspected the pit for our water infiltration system and shared crucial recommendations about the construction sequence to ensure we don't contaminate this critical (and very expensive) system once we build it. After approving the soil conditions, Matt gave us the green light to start installation of the Cultec system—a major step forward for our comprehensive stormwater management solution.
Outdoor Courts Taking Shape
The light bases for our outdoor pickleball courts have arrived! Our surveyor has marked the exact locations where they'll be installed to provide perfect light coverage across all courts, ensuring optimal playing conditions even during evening matches.
Community Impact: Car Show Success
On a special note, this past weekend Open Play Club proudly sponsored the 13th Annual Kidde Fenwal Car Show, which raised over $25,000 for the American Cancer Society! I personally want to thank everyone who came by and supported this meaningful fundraising event. Your participation made a real difference in the fight against cancer, and I hope to see you there again next year.
What's Coming Next: Building Goes Vertical
Here's what we're excited about in the coming weeks:
Building erection starts September 22nd! By then, we'll have connected to the main water and sewer pipes and completed all underground plumbing.
Interior building prep for the concrete slab, which we'll pour after the structure is erected.
Cultec system installation—the most critical part of our stormwater management solution. This massive system will capture all stormwater and direct it for infiltration into the ground.
Site preparation expansion—once building erection begins, our site crew will focus on stripping topsoil from the leach field area and preparing it for the parking lot and six outdoor padel courts.
As you can see, while we've made significant progress, there's still plenty of exciting work ahead of us!
The next few weeks promise to be visually spectacular as our building literally rises from the ground. Stay tuned for updates as we watch our vision take shape!
