NEWPORT – Behan Bros. has been selected as the prime contractor to construct the $5.4 million Breakers Welcome Center expected to open next year.
According to a news release from The Preservation Society of Newport County, Behan Bros. was among three finalists competing for the project at The Breakers, which is visited by 450,000 people annually.
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“This is a major milestone toward the creation of the kind of world class hospitality that we feel a National Historic Landmark should provide for its visitors,” Monty Burnham, chairman of the board of the Preservation Society, said in a statement. “With this step we move toward offering our visitors the hospitality they deserve, and that they enjoy at museums and historic sites around the world.”
Trudy Coxe, CEO and executive director of the Preservation Society, said that Behan Bros. provided the “best value and strongest plan for the construction of both the remarkable building that has been designed and the revival of the landscape.”
“All three finalists were Rhode Island firms and all three proposals were exciting, but it is especially satisfying to be able to award this work to a Newport company,” Coxe said.
Michael J. Behan, of Behan Bros., said he is looking forward to working on the project. Construction is expected to begin soon, according to the news release.
Alan Joslin, of Epstein Joslin Architects, who designed the welcome center, described the design as “compact” and said it will be one-story. The center will only operate during museum hours and serve only ticketed museum visitors and Preservation Society members. It will offer indoor ticketing and refreshments.
Additional work now underway at The Breakers includes completing the restoration of the underground boiler room; developing a new, ADA-accessible exitway from the house; and finalizing construction of a geothermal climate control system.
