South Coast Improvement recently won the job to restore the Hood Milk Bottle located at Children’s Museum at Fort Point Channel. You might have seen it on the news as several media outlets covered it. Many consider the Hood Milk Bottle to be one of the top 10 landmarks in Boston. On top of that it’s also considered an historic building. No pressure, right? Right. If that response surprises you a...

You’d remember him if you have—he’s one of those people that you remember. Six years ago, Gareth walked into my office in work boots, gym shorts and covered in plaster. He had been a professional Irish footballer who had landed in Boston. I was looking for a Superintendent for a tricky project at a Boston area private school. At first glance, I thought “No way!”. As I talked with Gareth, I found...

Over the course of the past few newsletters, you have heard me talk about South Coast receiving its ICRA certification a few years ago. That stands for Infection Control Risk Assessment. ICRA is an assessment matrix the CDC requires healthcare facilities to perform before any renovation, construction, or repair project. When it comes to ICRA, containment is the name of the game. The COVID-19...

First, to all who read this newsletter, my best to you and your families. I hope this find you well. As the COVID 19 virus continues to ravage our country and we practice social distancing, we all are beginning to think about life "Post COVID 19". One of the issues we will face is how do we make our senior living facilities and nursing homes safer for residents, patients and staff. It is...

There is a great scene in the '70's classic Jaws (I just dated myself horribly!!!) when the beaches re-open after the shark attacks. Everybody is at the beach BUT no one wants to be the first to go back into the water. You can imagine a similar scenario unfolding when things are back to normal and the COVID virus is in our rear view mirror. There is work to be done but who will be the first in?...

The focus right now should be and is 100 percent on when this crisis will end--with either a cure, a vaccine or both so we can put COVID-19 to rest. Yet it’s impossible to deny the world has shifted, particularly in the senior market. This virus will change the way business is done in all sub-sectors of the marketplace, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, long-term and...

A local building inspector recently visited one of our job sites. Before setting foot on the job, he was asked to wash his hands at a hand-washing station we had specially set up. His temperature was taken, and he was asked to check in and respond, in writing, to Covid-19 Job Site Entry questions. After completing all these tasks—and passing the established criteria of no temperature and...

For many years, we would hear the following when interviewing for new builds: "We like what you guys do but we don't see enough out-of-the-ground experience." Leaving those meetings would often have me thinking: "I'm not sure that a new building can be any harder than performing a major renovation in a fully occupied memory care unit or converting a two-pipe, water-fed heating and cooling system...

Compliment a good coach on a success and you will hear, "Hey, good players make good coaches!". Isn't that the truth? In the Belichick/Brady reign, I have yet to see Bill Belichick complete a pass, make a tackle or score a touchdown! So, I look back at 2019 and take stock of some of our accomplishments. Like a major, out-of-the-ground, 50,000 square foot residential building. In Cambridge, a gut...

In the 1980s, many business folks were reading Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and applying it to the business. One of my favorites quotes from the book is “Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” That certainly applies to renovations in occupied space. Not that what we do is a “battle.” But a renovation requires precision planning on our part before even laying down a tarp to begin work. In...