At long last, there were signs of activity at the Habitat for Humanity’s Kearny construction site at 41 Kearny Ave. last week as J&F Concrete Pumping began pouring from Colonial of Newark for the installation of footings.
“Thank God for the break in the rainy weather we’ve had recently,” said Howard McPherson, owner of Champion Construction & Demolition, the general contractor in charge of the job. “Habitat is under way.”
It was back on May 30, 2013, that Habitat representative Tom Bruning joined with county and local officials for a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project – involving the demolition of the one-story building that housed the former county TB center and construction of a new 3-family home.
McPherson said the next step will be framing for the new building which, he said, should take about a month to complete.
What follows, he said, will be siding, roofing, installation of windows, along with “rough” plumbing and electrical, then sheetrock, painting, insulation and installing wood flooring.
“Habitat volunteers [and apartment purchasers] will be brought in from time to time during the full construction process,” McPherson said.
McPherson extended thanks to the mayor and Town Council, Tony Chisari, the town’s assistant construction official, and the Kearny Police Department and PBA Local 21 for traffic control and safely securing the job site. “They were all a breeze to deal with,” he said.
