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The Jones Beach West Bathhouse has been in continuous operation for more than 85 years, serving millions of visitors each season. Natural events, wars, changing social and cultural demands, major increases in visitation and material deterioration have all impacted the building. Changing use patterns have also resulted in major alterations to the previous design. Previous alterations to the West Bathhouse resulted in the replacement of all original finishes. While the original finishes highlighted the structural components of the design, the alterations concealed many of these elements, changing the character of the space completely. Concrete support columns were covered with large ceramic tiles, original concrete floors were tiled over and the original combination pendant light and fan fixtures with fluorescent light fixtures. A five-bay-wide passageway that linked the pool to the ocean was also closed off and infilled with concession areas. Jones Beach State Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, changing how the Park and contributing structures are viewed and treated. In 2015, $65 million was appropriated to the refurbishment of the park. The first phase of this project comprised of returning the 6,000 square foot south side of the first floor to its former historical glory. The main goal of this portion of the project includes the restoration of the original open passageway between the West Bathhouse courtyard pool and the ocean beach, creating a new concession area within the connecting passageway link that would be representative of the original design concept and the inclusion of modern amenities and park functions. Several resiliency elements were included within the design of the first floor to ensure the space would be protected in the event of a storm or flood. The second phase of the project comprises of the restoration of the Marine Dining Hall on the second floor to preserve the original Art Deco design motifs and interior finishes as visualized by Robert Moses. Renovations of the main dining room and adjacent lobby area were incorporated, inclusive of the construction of exterior terrace awnings. The second floor space will serve as a catering space for special and private functions.

The new facility will expand the current operation to include 152 beds (male and female); counseling rooms; a new outpatient facility; a new Article 28 medical suite; administrative offices; gymnasium; physical fitness room; cafeteria; commercial kitchen; laundry; vocational training spaces; lounges; and a community room. The proposed design keeps within the architectural style and detailing of the original building. A notable challenge faced on this project is Samaritan Village’s need to remain in operation throughout construction. Another challenge needing to be overcome is the site’s steep slope and limited access. The current site slopes 60 feet across the property (approximately 40 feet across the building and its proposed addition). A multi-phased approach was put in place consisting of first constructing a major building addition of approximately 17,000 square feet to accommodate several vital functions of the facility so that the functions can be relocated. This will then allow for a multi-phased renovation of the remaining 45,000 square feet (the former convent) which was orginally constructed in the 1940’s. To address the sloping site, a design was proposed which steps the building addition down the slope, utilizing the site and connecting existing levels of the building without blocking views within the existing building. Panelized construction and concrete plank floors were designed to facilitate construction operations on such a limited and difficult site. Revit Building Information Modelling (BIM) was used for design visualization and construction documents to coordinate the sloping site and identify and address potential conflicts for all of the new construction and renovations. Separate Revit models were created for architectural, structural and MEP elements of the building.

H2M provided land surveying, engineering, landscape architecture, and construction administration services for the Stony Brook University Medical Center. Consultants supporting H2M on this assignment included Dunn Engineering for traffic engineering services, and Desman Associates for parking design services. Two construction costs for the project was approximately $7.5 million and was completed in two phases (Package A and B). Package A was completed in June 2014 and included a new 630 stall parking field, traffic signal, and additional travel lanes along both sides of Pellegrino Road. In addition, improvements were made which extended the turn lanes at the Pellegrino Road and Health Sciences Drive intersection. Due to challenging terrain of the site, there were significant grading improvements within the Package A parking field as the vertical elevation in this area varied by over 30 feet in some locations. Package B construction was completed in August 2016 and included the realignment and interconnection of Pellegrino Road and Hospital Access Road with an accompanying roundabout. Previously, these roads did not connect and had a 10 foot vertical grade difference between them. Package B featured a walkway promenade with pedestrian plaza, landscaping, retaining walls, and street lighting along Hospital Access Road. Parking access control systems with proximity card readers, ticket dispensers, and park and pay stations were installed to process vehicles accessing the parking feilds. To facilitate the flow of traffic to over 1,500 parking stalls on the East Campus, two 45 foot variable message board signs were installed at the entrance driveway to the garage and adjoining parking field. Overall, both projects included a new drainage system, high efficiency LED site and walkway lighting, and infrastructure to support CCTV cameras.

Hempstead Lake has more than 150 years of history in the Long Island region. Beginning its life in 1853, the lake/reservoir was created by Brooklyn Water Works to supply freshwater to the growing population. Unfortunately, the lake’s sandy bottom was unable to hold more than 15 feet of water, half of what the dam structures were designed to contain. In 1925, the Southern State Parkway separated the lake from the park, and Robert Moses recommended transferring the 990 acres of land and 130 acres of lakes from New York City to New York State Parks. When New York State took over, the area around the park had already become fully developed and the lake had been neglected. Its importance as a recreational, educational and environmental asset was buried and seemed lost to the region. Hempstead Lake rests in the Mill River Corridor, and is a key component to the resiliency strategy needed to improve the water quality and decrease stormwater flooding. Environmental co-benefits of the project include water quality improvements; ecological restoration; groundwater recharge; community, social, educational, environmental, and resiliency components. The “Greenway Corridor” follows the original Mill River from the North Shore, bisecting Long Island and ending on the South Shore. The Greenway is part of the “Living by the Bay” resiliency project led by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR). New York State Parks Hempstead Lake State Park will be the heart of the project, linking communities at the center of the corridor. The park enhancement and improvement amenities will provide pedestrian lake interaction and accessibility; fishing piers; ADA compliant kayack dock & launch; a new 4,000 square foot education and visitor’s center to welcome the community and educate visitors on the history of the park and its important role in the community; Schodack Brook Bridge Crossing will allow users to traverse the entire park from north to south. Other improvements include five miles of multi-use bridle trail improvements; a new 50 car parking field with green infrastructure; enhanced bird watching platforms; and interpretive and educational signage. New and enhanced access points will allow the public and emergency providers easier and faster entry to and from all surrounding neighborhoods.

H2M recently constructed a new Individualized Residential Alternative NY; to accommodate non-ambulatory adults with developmental disabilities. Located in Brooklyn, the new, one-story, 12-bed IRA was constructed on a vacant lot and designed to conform with all local and state codes, including the requirements of NYCRR Title 14, Chapter XIII, Parts 635 and 686. Its new one-story, modern design has been integrated with the site to afford views from the interior spaces to the exterior landscape, which was designed with indigenous, low-maintenance plantings. The building’s amenities include: full accessible on-site parking and covered drop-off areas; radiant floor heating, to provide added comfort to residents and provide significant energy savings; and comprehensive life safety systems including fire sprinklers, alarms, and carbon monoxide detection. Built-in artwork, casework and other features reduce the institutional feel and make the facility feel like home, while aesthetically-pleasing, low-maintenance materials and fixtures offer durability and long-term cost conservation. H2M worked with DASNY to have the site backfilled with soil that would have been deemed “waste” from another DASNY project located nearby (Brooklyn DDSO); this allowed for the creation of a level site and accessible backyard area for the building’s occupants at a considerably reduced cost.

The Brooklyn Developmental Center’s 10 air handler units (AHU) were showing their age and needed replacing. H2M designed the new units to provide a total of 128,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air and an equivalent of 484 tons of cooling (1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr.). The design included sizing each air handler to serve a different zone in the building. Variable frequency drive fans were selected to provide soft starts for the motors and to vary the flow of air through each zone. The new air handlers were tied into the existing ductwork, diffusers were balanced and airflow was corrected after third party commissioning. All units were tied into a central plant loop, which provides the hot and chilled water throughout the campus. This cool job was topped off with the installation of a building management system (BMS) tying the new AH units into two front-end user control panels in the mechanical room and the plant manager’s office. The BMS can also be controlled via the internet.

The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) Morgan Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) is one of the largest mail processing facilities in the U.S. Built in 1933, it was designated an historic landmark in 1986. With 1,600 windows and 2.2 million interior square feet, it also boasts the largest green roof in New York City (2.5 acres) and one of the largest in the country. Seasonal fluctuations in mail volume were creating overloads on the building electrical system. H2M was brought in to assess the problem, develop alternative solutions and assist the USPS in implementation. The USPS was facing stiff penalties from the electrical utility for the seasonal loads. Conducting an intensive electrical building survey, H2M developed an alternative solution that involved a reduction in electricity used for air conditioning chilled water. Diverting that additional power to other transformers and switchgear alleviated loads from the overloaded switchboards. The outcome was a leveling of loads which avoided the seasonal fluctuations, allowing the postal service to stay on schedule processing and delivering the mail.

H2M civil engineers, landscape architects, and land surveyors are currently working on plans for the Phase 1 East Campus parking improvements at Stony Brook University Medical Center. The construction cost for the project is estimated at $12.2 million by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) and is projected to be completed in two phases, with the latter phase completed by August 2014. The project involves the addition of over 650 new parking stalls to the East Campus and the realignment and interconnection of Pellegrino Road and Hospital Access Road, with an accompanying roundabout and structural foundations for a future parking garage. The project will also feature a walkway promenade with pedestrian plaza, landscaping, street lighting, and street furniture along Hospital Access Road. Due to the challenging terrain of the site, there will be significant grading improvements, as the vertical elevation of the site varies by over 30 feet. In addition to the green infrastructure stormwater techniques that will be utilized, the project’s drainage system will be constructed to include drywells with overflow to a new, naturalized recharge area. New road and parking field lighting will be included, as well as a water main extension to the future garage.

South Amboy, New Jersey is a poster child for transit oriented development (TOD). Over the past 20 years, the community has quietly transformed itself from a dying urban center into a forward-looking, vibrant community. When Peron Development/South Amboy II, LLC wanted to redevelop a 15-acre parcel in the Lower Broadway neighborhood, H2M was there to lend a hand, overseeing the remediation of contaminated soils. The contamination was attributed to the use of contaminated fill at the property, and discrete discharges due to the property’s commercial and industrial history. Contaminants included polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The impacted soil remediation involved the removal, characterization, and disposal of rusted drum carcasses; building debris including concrete floors, foundations, and rail spurs; and abandoned underground storage tanks. Over 20,000 cubic yards of soil were excavated, field screened, and transported off site or re-used. H2M also provided analysis and post-excavation sampling to verify the effectiveness of the remediation. The newly remediated property is now on its way to becoming a skilled nursing facility, 86 townhomes and a community YMCA. Converting the run down, blighted property into a pedestrian-friendly mixed use development adds another piece to South Amboy’s fresh, transit-oriented community.

H2M is currently performing a pool rehabilitation for DASNY at Alumni Gym at Bronx Community College (formerly NYU). Alumni Gym, originally constructed in 1931, was modified in 1947 to convert an existing basketball floor into a 36 x 75 foot swimming pool, with facilities for racing, high and low diving, and water polo. The pool was again renovated in the 1980s with new equipment and replacement of the original pool tiles. The current project consists of all new pool equipment, as well as health department and ADA code upgrades, including but not limited to: a new pool filtration and water treatment system; pool heater; replacement of the electrical system and pool piping; drainage; surge tank; pool wall tile; pool signage; pool wall and floor repairs; gutter system; pool area lighting and ventilation system; and pool alarm. The project also features an ADA lift and the creation of an accessible route from the building’s exterior to the pool, as well as an ADA-compliant locker and shower room.

H2M provided engineering services to the United States Postal Service (USPS) for the design of a new closed circuit television system (CCTV) and card access and security controls at its Queens Processing & Distribution Center. Services included the design of the facility’s new CCTV system, consisting of three new operator consoles; 16 DVRs; exterior day/night Pan, Tilt, Zoom cameras fixed on parking lots, exit doors, lobbies, and loading docks; and interior day/night cameras fixed on all staircase towers and sensitive areas. A total of 12 Pan, Tilt, Zoom cameras and 85 fixed cameras were installed. In addition to the design of security monitoring system, a new vehicle control office security/access control system was developed, incorporating a video/intercom/access control system. The access system included individual employee cards for over 1,000 employees, card readers at all entry/exit doors, main lobbies, turnstiles, driver entrance doors, and stock rooms and was integrated with the facility’s local area network (LAN). The existing LAN was also interfaced with a wide area network (WAN) to allow nationwide control over the entire system. The Queens facility was one of the first USPS facilities to utilize this new WAN Access Control System. The access control system featured numerous upgrades, including new, electrified interior door hardware, exterior emergency egress door hardware, door status monitoring, and three new USPS ACE workstations. A total of 76 card readers were installed to control 61 access points.

When New York City wanted to re-develop a 20,000 SF lot in the 125th Street Corridor of Harlem, H2M was called upon to implement a comprehensive brownfield remediation. The NYC Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) identified the lot for focused redevelopment, which included demolition of 10 multi-story commercial and residential buildings. Contamination discovered at the site included semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and metals in subsurface soils and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the groundwater. Over 10,000 tons of impacted soils were excavated and disposed offsite. To remediate chlorinated hydrocarbons, H2M injected 2,000 lbs. of Hydrogen Releasing Compounds (HRC) into the groundwater via 20 injection points. The results spoke for themselves, with hydrocarbon concentrations reduced from 90 ppb to undetectable within six months. Upon completion of the remediation, a modern, 4-story multi-tenant commercial building was constructed on the site.