News

Board of Ed Voices Preference for 12-Classroom Build-Out at Saxe

By |

Saying more classrooms are needed to meet rising enrollment while maintaining class sizes at Saxe Middle School, Board of Education members voiced support Monday night for an addition that could see an estimated 22,000 square feet built out of the northwest corner of the building. Though school board members stopped short of voting in favor of the still-conceptual plan that they’re calling “Option 3A” at Saxe—that vote, essentially a recommendation that would go to other town bodies, will take place at a special meeting on May 5—those that spoke said they supported a version of the build-out that would meet recommended numbers for science and general classrooms as well as special education spaces. Specifically, the Board of Ed voiced support for a two-story addition that would include 12 classrooms plus one science/STEM classroom (and would cost an estimated $9.65 million) over a single-story version that would have seven classrooms plus one science/STEM classroom (and cost about $5.8 million). “It is clear that the 8-room solution is a compromise,” Board of Ed member Gene Goodman said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. A committee spearheading the project at Saxe—originally formed to address needs for the now-shuttered auditorium and attendant visual and performing arts practice spaces only—now has developed four conceptual plans.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

New Canaan’s alpaca owner, Debbie McQuilkin, has lived in three houses in New Canaan, and their street numbers follow a pattern: 141 Millport Ave., 585 Ponus Ridge and 757 Oenoke Ridge Road (Crajah House). ***

Ben Olmstead, the 37-year DPW worker with an encyclopedic knowledge of the town who was killed July 23 in an accident while on the job here, is missed for his generous spirit, smile, positive attitude and companionship. He also knew so much that his position—a part-time job for him—will be a challenging full-time job for his eventual successor. In presenting the department’s proposed budget Feb. 3 to the Board of Finance, DPW Assistant Director Tiger Mann said that the job must change to full-time “since it will be a large learning curve for whoever comes in. Ben knew everything in his head.

News

Consultants Detail Asbestos, Lead Paint, PCB Levels at Saxe Middle School

By |

The EPA has asked consultants overseeing the renovation of Saxe Middle School’s auditorium to test for PCBs in the concrete floor, officials said Thursday. The levels of PCBs in the floor’s gray paint were high enough to cause concern, Amy Vaillancourt, project manager at civil and environmental engineering firm Tighe & Bond, told parents during an informational session held in the middle school. Ranging from 1,600 to 4,900 parts per million or “ppm” (against a federal standard of 50)—the PCB levels were not only higher than in other areas of the auditorium, but they also presented a greater exposure risk because floor itself shows some wear, Vaillancourt said. In removing the hazardous materials this summer, depending on whether the PCBs “leaked” into the concrete floor itself, some depth of that floor (up to one quarter-inch) may need to be removed as well during remediation this summer, she said. “To put that into perspective, there are two schools I’m dealing with right now—one high school that has 220,000 ppm and another elementary school that has 400,000 ppm—in paints,” Vaillancourt said at the session, held in the Band Room at Saxe.

News

Officials: Saxe Needs Not Just Auditorium Overhaul, But Also Arts Space Expansion—Total Cost $10.1 Million

By |

Even an estimated $5.3 million renovation of the Saxe Middle School auditorium won’t accommodate a burgeoning student population, meet visual and performing arts space needs and bring much-needed flexibility to classroom scheduling, according to town officials overseeing a renovation of the facility. Creating sufficient storage and practice and classroom space for an increasingly large student body will require a footprint expansion of about 6,200 square feet off of the building’s south side—a project whose early estimate comes in at about $10.1 million, an owner’s rep for the project said at the Board of Education meeting Monday. The estimate is conservative, said Gene Torone, executive vice president of construction services as Glastonbury-based S/L/A/M Collaborative. Though some money may be saved in lower-cost materials, the figure doesn’t include removal of contaminants that officials expect to find as more testing is done on the auditorium, which is original to the 1957 building. “There is evidence of some [hazardous materials],” Torone said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School.

News

Nonprofit Foundation Planned to Support Saxe Auditorium Renovation, Wider Visual and Performing Arts Community

By |

The group that’s overseeing the renovation of the Saxe Middle School auditorium plans to create a nonprofit foundation that will accept donations to offset the cost of the capital project itself, as well as to serve the longer-term interests of New Canaan’s visual and performing arts community, officials say. The Saxe Auditorium Building Committee is tapping SLAM Construction Services of Glastonbury (already on the South School windows project) as an owner’s rep, is targeting early-2015 for draft plans of the renovation and is looking at work completed during the summer of 2016, members said Tuesday at the regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen. “What we need to do first is get a decent scope of the work that we think fits with what is economically viable and fills the needs,” committee member Jim Beall said at the meeting, held in the Training Room of the New Canaan Police Department. The selectmen voted 3-0 to approve a $67,240 contract that will bring in SLAM as the owner’s rep and for project feasibility and scope development services. First Selectman Rob Mallozzi commended the building committee for its sensible approach to the project.