News

How Much Is Too Little?

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A mom friend in town asked me recently why New Canaan should build onto Saxe. “Why not build another elementary school instead and make them K through five? Then the middle school would really be a middle school.”

I told her the story of Center School, New Canaan’s fourth elementary school, now the farmer’s market parking lot next to the public library. My friend had no idea that New Canaan used to have a fourth elementary school. In 1983, the economy was what it was, enrollment was not as robust as it is now or will be, and the town went back and forth between closing Center School or South School.

News

Leaving New Canaan after 20 Years

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I write this poem (at right) because we are leaving home. The only home I’ve really ever known. It wasn’t my first home, but after 20 years of living on Park Street, the Sauerhoffs are leaving New Canaan. But the history of the Sauerhoffs in New Canaan extends much beyond 20 years. In fact, us moving in 2015 makes this the 49th year that a Sauerhoff has lived in New Canaan.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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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

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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

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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.