Preliminary designs for the new Sandy Hook School building’s playgrounds were presented by representatives of a design firm at the Tuesday, June 23, Public Building & Site Commission meeting.

The commission also heard a presentation on the artwork planned for the school during the meeting.

A number of meetings were held with a school playground committee, according to William Richter, a principal of Richter & Cegan of Avon, a landscape architecture and urban design firm.

With the approval of the playground preliminary designs, Julia McFadden of Svigals + Partners of New Haven said Tuesday, work will proceed on developing full construction documents.

Mr Richter explained two playgrounds, one for prekindergarten through first grade students and one for the school’s older grades, were being presented to the commission.

Meetings with the school’s playground committee, Mr Richter said, developed a wish list for the playgrounds, tweaked the wish list and prepared plans, and revised and finalized the plans before they were brought before the commission.

“The playground committee was very, very workable, informative, and developed the project with us very well,” said Mr Richter.

As described by Mr Richter the prekindergarten to first grade playground would include swings, slides, climbers, play boards, and a caterpillar-shaped crawler.

“We got everything on the wish list of the committee,” said Mr Richter.

The area of both playgrounds will have soft bituminous surfacing, according to the presentation, and seasonal fabric umbrellas will provide shade over some areas of the playgrounds.

The playgrounds, said Mr Richter, follow the theme of water and waves, with beige and blue coloring.

Slides, climbing areas, play boards, balancing areas, and challenge areas will be available on the playground for the older grade levels at the school.

The budget for the playgrounds was set at over $500,000, and, according to the presentation, Richter & Cegan expects the playgrounds to be about $90,000 under budget. Mr Richter also told the commission cost estimates will be prepared following the designs approval, and final drawings will be prepared.

“Fits the space. Fits the program. Everyone seems to be happy with it,” said Mr Richter.

The playgrounds are expected to be installed on the property in spring 2016.

Marissa Dionne Mead of Svigals + Partners later presented work and plans for art that will be created for the new building.

“We like to inspire wonder and curiosity in the students and allow them to dream of things that maybe they wouldn’t have thought of before,” said Ms Mead, when explaining why Svigals + Partners likes adding art to its buildings. “We think it adds a lot of value and it is a pretty inexpensive way to do so.”

Ms Mead explained the plans for each of the “art integration sites” that will be on the school’s campus and within the new building.

Plans include banners that will hang from street lights lining the driveway, wood carvings incorporated in the school’s front façade, large relief sculptures in the entrance lobby, a cistern decorated with aquatic life images, and weathervanes, which will be created by a local artist, according to Ms Mead.

During a Kids Build! session, Ms Mead said Sandy Hook School students outlined natural materials, like leaves and sticks, and those outline drawings were transformed at the Svigals + Partners office to look like what they will be when transformed into wood carvings. Kids Build!, according to Svigals + Partners, is an educational program developed by the firm to educate students about design, construction, and maintenance.

As Barry Svigals, a principal at Svigals + Partners, said, the wood carvings on the school’s façade are designed with a metaphor in mind.

“There are trees, and that’s the trunk of the tree,” Mr Svigals said. “The idea was that as hearts are carved in trees, for example, this is the carving that goes into the tree… into the fabric of the school itself.”

Installation of the different artworks will span from this fall to next spring, according to Julia McFadden, Svigals + Partners associate principal and project manager for the Sandy Hook School project.

Some Board of Education members were present for the meeting, and member John Vouros requested Sandy Hook School students be as included as possible in the creation of the artwork.

“The more children you can involve, the better off,” said Mr Vouros. “You never know when you are triggering their thoughts or their imagination.”

The commission also heard an update about the Newtown High School auditorium project during the meeting.

Geralyn Hoerauf of Diversified Project Management said a walkthrough of the building was held with firms on June 12, and a “good list” of firms have expressed preliminary interest in undertaking the auditorium project.

Mr Hoerauf also suggested a schedule of firm interviews and meetings before the July 28 expected selection for the project.