“Concrete block walls are going up” at the new ambulance garage site, said Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps board member Bruce Herring.

As of Wednesday, October 16, the concrete slab for the new construction’s living area had been poured, and the slab for the garage portion of the two-story, six-bay ambulance facility at Fairfield Hills will “hopefully” be poured in coming days.

So far, the project to construct a new building, which will serve as an ambulance garage and work facility for Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps members, is ahead of schedule.

Due to good weather and working conditions, the project is about three weeks ahead, said Clerk of the Works Brian Feeney. But that advantage “could even out,” he said, as winter weather approaches. The goal is to get as much completed “before bad weather hits,” he said. He hopes to have the roof on by mid-March.

With the foundations already dug and poured in past weeks and the slab already set for one portion of the building, travelers passing the site on Wasserman Way across from Reed Intermediate School can begin to see concrete block walls rising — already several feet high in one area. Once the walls go up, the entire building will be sheathed in brick, Mr Feeney said.

Walking the site Wednesday, and stepping across ground stamped with the tread of heavy machinery, he said crews had come across no surprises, so far. Work is going smoothly, he said. The concrete work now in progress will take an estimated 40 working days to complete.

The new construction will alleviate the cramped space the corps now occupies at 77 Main Street.

“This is going to be really nice, Mr Feeney said.

According to Newtown-ambulance.org, “With 70 members and an annual 9-1-1 call volume of over 2200, NVAC has outgrown the facility it has occupied since 1972.

“The design has taken into consideration the need for increased integration with other Newtown-based health and wellness organizations, with a second floor devoted to education. Features of the building include: individual crew-member bunk rooms, office space for the Executive Board and the Association, six garage bays, and technologically advanced electronic and security systems. This building will include a large training room to facilitate increased community educational opportunities such as CPR and AED training, First-Aid, and Scout merit badges. It will also provide space for equipment storage and training for Emergency Medical Technician classes, which are imperative  for the continuity of an all-volunteer corps.

“Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps has been serving the community since 1941 and is committed to providing coverage of emergency medical needs for the long-term. As the population grows and the demand for service increases, so do the needs of the organization.”

A groundbreaking for the new $4.5 million facility, funded by the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association, took place on July 29.