Massive Jehovah's Witnesses' construction project in Rockland suffers delays, locals getting impatient
Rockland commuters may have to tolerate delays for a few more months, but the frustration over bumpy roads is going to be addressed much sooner.
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Some Rockland commuters are turning impatient with The Jehovah Witnesses' massive project on the edge of Rockland County.
Contractors have encountered problems installing utility lines around the site of the group's future media center, creating headaches for drivers.
The group is building an audio-visual center on Sterling Mine Road.
The center will have production workshops, offices, a gym, an energy plant and 645 apartments for the volunteers who will be producing the group's videos and literature that are distributed worldwide.
Once completed, the center will be almost as big as the Jehovah's Witnesses' world headquarters in nearby Warwick.
"It's taking forever," said commuter Chris Elias, of Tuxedo, noting that each time he drives through the site, it seems another section of road has been dug up and covered by water and gas contractors. "It's been going on for months, and the road is just really, really crappy to drive on."
They may have to tolerate delays for a few more months, but the frustration over bumpy roads is going to be addressed much sooner.
Jehovah's Witnesses spokesperson Matthew Mordecki said, as contractors were excavating to install utility lines, they hit solid rock.
They had to blast out the rock, which set back the project a few months.
Mordecki said they are almost done, though, and another contractor has been secured to repave the entire stretch of road in the "next couple of weeks."
"We feel your pain," Mordecki said in a Zoom interview Monday afternoon. "There's no good time to open up a construction project like this, but this is a town development that develops the water and sewer district all the way to the county line, so that won't take place again."
Mordecki said work by the road will wrap up in November, while the 1.7-square-foot AV center itself is expected to be completed in 2030.
