Volunteers on Mitchell Street in Providence will be able to put down their hammers for the holidays – construction is winding to a close on Amica House.
The house, a project of the Amica Mutual Insurance Company, of Lincoln, Habitat Providence and the Providence Police Department, has been under construction since June.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
Project Coordinator and Amica Assistant Vice President Mark T. Divoll set Thanksgiving as the company’s goal to complete construction and have the house ready for moving day. When Providence Business News last looked in on the house, its exterior was almost completely sided and work was about to begin on its interior walls, floors, electrical wiring and plumbing system.
Since then, construction to the outside of the house has been completed, the staging taken down, and 30 yards of loam have been spread in the back yard by student volunteers from Rocky Hill School.
More than 70 people showed up for “S.O.S.” (Sheet rock On Saturday) in September, Divoll said, when volunteers hung 120 sheets of 4′ by 12′ sheet rock.
“It was a lot of fun,” Divoll said. “It was more than a work detail – it was an event.” A bathtub, sinks and kitchen cabinets have been installed, and on a recent visit to the house, Domingo Montero – who will live in the house with his girlfriend and their five children – brought back the family’s choices for carpeting, countertops and linoleum flooring.
Montero has been at every work session held at the house since construction began early last summer, and said he is excited about the upcoming moving day.
That day will be significant not just in the lives of the Montero family, but for the Amica family as well – the entire project has been an event for the company, with 220 different people putting in the equivalent of more than 500 workdays.
“We’ve had a good turnout, whether it be friends and relatives of Amica employees – we’ve had people just show up,” said Divoll. “Every time I’ve put notices out, ‘Hey we need a little extra help,’ they’ve come out of the woodwork.”
