By Jennifer L. Grybowski, Contributing Writer
Westborough – After weeks of stopped construction work as part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s pandemic response plan, Westborough Building Commissioner Fred Lonardo said construction has resumed on several commercial sites in town as part of the Phase One reopening.
Lonardo said all of the sites are complying with the governor’s directives, such as having hand washing stations set up, doing some kind of daily check on the employees’ health and being proactive with social distancing.
“Generally the number of people you see in any one area is diminished from what it would normally be,” he said.
He said at the Amazon Robotics innovation hub, located at 50 Otis St., the site of the former pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, there has been a lot of substantial demolition of the old building, and that foundation work on the new building will likely begin in the next couple of weeks. He also reported that the cube building (behind the old pyramid) is beginning to be occupied, but that Amazon has a nurse on site to manage employees’ health. Plans were to fully open the facility in 2021.
The former Burger King at 139 Turnpike Rd. (Route 9) and the intersection of Lyman Street was razed earlier this year and plans filed for a 5,000-square-foot ConvenientMD urgent care medical center, Starbucks and new Burger King in its place.
“They’ve come a long way to finishing the outside shell and are in the process of getting permits for interior work,” Lonardo said.
Lonardo said none of the companies he’s working with seem to be fazed about this setback in scheduling.
“They are going forward and doing what they can do,” he said.
He did acknowledge that permits come with expiration dates, but the building office is giving leniency and extending those dates as a courtesy.
“We aren’t going to deny them,” he said. “We tell the customers to do the best they can.”
