The guidelines require BIM on new projects valued at between $15 million and $50 million, says Craig Chin, a DDC spokesman.

ENR New York reported on DDC's plans to roll out BIM standards earlier this year (ENR New York 2/13 p. 13). The agency is the latest in the region to develop BIM standards. Earlier this year NYC Dept. of Buildings and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York each announced BIM technology guidelines.

Connecticut

Club Gets $1M For New Center

ESPN says it has donated $1 million to help fund construction of a new 38,000-sq-ft family center for the Boys and Girls Club in Bristol, Conn., the same town where ESPN has its headquarters. Construction is expected to begin in spring or summer 2013 and be completed later that year.

The construction manager is a joint venture of O&G Industries Inc., Torrington, Conn., and The S. Carpenter Construction Co., Bristol. Amara Associates, West Hartford, Conn., is the architect.

The club hopes to begin the subcontractor bidding process this November, says Michael Suchopar, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club and Family Center in Bristol.

The facility will replace an 85-year-old building that no longer has the space or the resources to meet the children's needs, ESPN says. The new structure will have a technology hub, a teen center, an arts and crafts center as well as a 14,000-sq-ft field house that will be connected to the main facility.

The project is valued at $9.25 million. The club has so far raised $5 million from donations from the state, local families, Thomaston Savings Bank and Farmington Bank, Suchopar says. He says the club plans to launch a campaign for the remaining funds.

In 2009, ESPN contributed $400,000 to the club for land acquisition. The company has a long-standing history with the club and its Bristol family center, says Ben Cafardo, an ESPN spokesman. "Thousands of ESPN employees volunteer with the club, so this is something that is important to the company and the community," Cafardo says.

Separately, work is progressing on ESPN's $100-million digital center, also located in Bristol. The 193,000-sq-ft project, which broke ground in August 2011, lost some time due to a snowstorm last October, but the project remains on track for completion in 2014, Cafardo says.

New York City

High Line's Final Section Breaks Ground

Construction started up last month on the third and final section of the High Line elevated railway track project. The $90-million project, which will extend a half mile beyond the current northern end of High Line park, is located between West 30th and 34th streets, and 10th and 12th avenues in Manhattan.

Construction will be financed through public and private funds, says NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office. Phase 1 of the three-phase project is set to open in 2014. It will connect the Meatpacking District and West Chelsea with the future No. 7 subway station, the Javits Center and the Hudson Yards neighborhood.

Dubbed the "High Line at the Rail Yards," the project surrounds the Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group's Hudson Yards project, which is expected to start construction later this fall.