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By Laura Drinan
Hoemtown Weekly Reporter
Those familiar with Needham’s Greendale Ave know that construction for 40B housing is well underway. The 10 townhouses and five-story building that will house over one hundred families don’t just pop out of the ground overnight. It takes over 150 men and women on site and months of work to accomplish such a project.
Children and adults who were curious about the Mill Creek Residential, LLC project in Needham and construction in general headed to the Needham Free Public Library on August 10 to visit with two construction workers.
Lead superintendent of the Greendale Ave project, Jim, and assistant project manager, Natalia, talked about their positions with Mill Creek and gave more insight as to what the housing project will feature. But before diving in to the details of the construction, Jim pointed to his hard hat and said, “We always need to wear these hard hats anywhere on site to protect our head from getting hurt.” He and Natalia revealed that they brought plastic hard hats with the Mill Creek logo for all of the children in the audience. “Now you all know where you work and who you’ll report,” joked Jim.
Children were excited to take pictures with the construction workers completing the Greendale Ave housing project. Photos by Laura Drinan.
Even though the project may seem overwhelming at times, especially when it is as grand scale as the Greendale Ave residential project, Jim and Natalia both professed their adoration for construction. Jim, who is from Massachusetts, has worked in construction for over 36 years. Starting as just a laborer, Jim worked his way up over the years, with his passion for construction leading him to his current role.
Natalia, on the other hand, expected her work in construction to just be temporary after she finished her Bachelor’s degree in health science in her home state of Massachusetts. “I fell in love with construction and how things are built and how it takes a whole team coming together,” she said, fully confident in her choice to stay in the field.
As the children played with their hard hats, Jim and Natalia realized their audience was not yet fully equipped to get on site, so they handed out child-sized high-visibility vests for them to wear and take home. The two construction workers grabbed the attention of the audience with a time-lapse video of the project since it began up until now, showing the attendees the progress the team has made and the weather conditions they have worked under.
As questions about the project seemed to run out, Jim and Natalia gave the children some final goodies, including a balloons, Red Sox calendars, stickers, and pens. The event also left time for a photo opportunity with Jim and Natalia, during which time children could take pictures with the real construction workers while wearing their newly acquired Mill Creek uniforms.
Jim encouraged the audience to drive by the Greendale Ave housing project and see all of the progress being made daily. As he knows some are questioning how the residential units will effect the community, Jim reminds the audience that they are always welcome to stop by the site’s main office for questions and concerns.
