School Board Settles On

The Look Of The 5/6 School

By Tanjua Damon

The masonry materials to be used on the proposed 5/6 school were picked out and voted on by the Newtown Board of Education Tuesday night.

The special board meeting at the district office brought together members of the Newtown Building and Site Commission as well as representatives from Strategic Building Solutions, the project manager, and Jeter, Cook & Jepson, the architectural firm, to decide what materials are best suited for the school.

Originally the architectural firm proposed vinyl siding for parts of the building. But board members felt that vinyl siding did not fit with the character of the town and the location – off Mile Hill Road and Wassermann Way in the Fairfield Hills area. In late October, the board asked the architects to go back and try some brick combinations instead of vinyl.

Tuesday night, a unanimous decision was reached on materials for the proposed school. Three masonry materials were voted on, although color was not decided. Earth tones are more likely to cover the exterior of the 5/6 school.

The base of the school will have a split face block. Another lighter split face block will be used throughout most of the rest of the exterior. But a traditional brick will be the third material used to help accent windows and other areas of the building. The window frames will have a white trim and the roof will feature a slate colored shingle.

Less concrete block that was set to be used in the inside of the building helps allow for the use of traditional brick on the exterior, according to James LaPosta of Jester, Cook & Jepson. All stays within the nearly $34 million price tag for the school.

“It’s fairly common in Connecticut to have brown stone with an orangey brick,” Mr LaPosta said. “Pretty traditional for the state.”

Board member Margaret Hull, who has spent many hours looking at the material and traveling around Connecticut researching other schools with several different material combinations, was very happy with what the architects finally proposed.

“I’d just like to thank Jim. He’s worked so hard in changing this,” Mrs Hull said. “It’s handsome. The fact that this building is part of the town, I think it’s important to bring some of that brick in. It’s traditional.”

Sheila Stickles, who also took part in researching materials and visiting other schools, concurred with Mrs Hull’s opinion.

“Everything just came together,” Mrs Stickles said. “It’s harmony.”

Members of the Building and Site Commission agreed that the materials reflected the town and looked nice.

“It’s showing the tri-coloring. It’s a wonderful rendering,” Anthony D’Angelo of the Building and Site Commission said. “It makes me want to teach there.”

Chairman of the Committee Frank Krasnickas said he liked the materials, but was more concerned with construction of the project.

“It’s your school,” he said. “We’re more concerned with construction. I like it.”

Mr LaPosta also brought a revised entrance to the school for the board to look at. It featured one wider gable that will be left open to allow daylight to penetrate toward the front door of the proposed building. In the original recommendation, the front was all on one plane and did not stand out from the building. Now the entrance will come out about 25 feet with a covered area and two columns.

The date to send the plans to the State Board of Education is early January. The plan is to have a referendum vote in mid-June 2001. If all goes according to schedule, a move-in date is set for January 2003.