BOSTON, MA - Broadway Electrical Company, Inc. of Boston, has recently completed the $2,000,000 electrical construction of the new Simmons College Graduate Center in the Fenway area of Boston. The state-of-the-art 150,000 s/f, three-story building is one of the first major undertakings in the 190 million dollar Master Plan modernization of the Simmons College campus. The facility will serve multiple purposes for 500 to 700 Simmons’ Graduate School students and faculty, as it consists of sophisticated electronic classrooms, lab areas, and A/V rooms, as well as administrative offices.

Broadway’s comprehensive project scope included providing power, security, fire alarm, lighting, and tel/data system installations at the educational facility. Project parameters also included Broadway’s electrical fit-up and lighting installations for three levels of the Graduate Center’s underground parking . The parking facility was completed prior to the construction of the education building, and includes police emergency call and fire alarm systems. The fire alarm system for the parking area and the main building also integrates into the campus fire alarm system.

A new power distribution system meets power requirements of the Graduate Center, and re-feeds power to other buildings on the Simmons College campus, including the Main Academic Building. Broadway also installed the facility’s card access security system which has an advanced campus emergency call feature.

Concurrent to Broadway’s electrical project at the Graduate Center, the firm was awarded the $250,000 contract to install an upgraded chiller plant in a new mechanical penthouse atop the Science Building at Simmons College. The new chiller plant accommodates the HVAC needs of the Science Building, the Graduate Center, and the Main Academic Building on the campus.

Throughout the course of the project, Broadway’s project manager supervised a field staff of 6 journeymen electricians and two project foremen from IBEW Local 103 to meet the aggressive project schedule. The project commenced in May of 2001 and the long-standing NECA member firm reached substantial completion by June of the following year.

Broadway worked in tandem with general contractor, Lee Kennedy Company, Inc. of Boston, project architect Goody Clancy & Associates, Inc. of Boston, and the electrical engineering firm, Fitzmeyer & Tocci, Inc. of Woburn. William A. Berry and Son, Inc. of Danvers served as the owner’s representative.

Broadway Electrical’s Telecom Division Provides $300,000 Tel/Data Installations.
The division was also instrumental in the planning, design, and configuration of the facility’s sophisticated tel/data network. The advanced tel/data installations include 650 voice/data locations throughout the facility, utilizing an enhanced 5e Ortronics /Comscope solution. Broadway Electrical installed a copper voice backbone and a single mode fiber data backbone between the new Simmons Graduate center and the existing Main Academic Building on the Simmons campus. The cabling installed by Broadway for the Graduate Center’s tel/data needs also integrates into the College’s existing high speed data network.

Tel/data installations started in mid-January and were complete by mid-June. The fast-track nature of the project necessitated weekly planning meetings between Broadway Electrical, the general contractor Lee Kennedy & Company, the owner, and owner’s representative, William A. Berry & Son. According to Broadway's project manager, Bernie Kamp, “The project coordination provided by Lee Kennedy Company and William A. Berry and Company enhanced our ability to handle the project in an efficient manner. Communication and solid co-ordination were critical aspects in meeting the owner’s project schedule.”

Broadway Electrical managed a field staff of 1 telcom foreman and 3 certified technicians from Local 103.