The facility has been completely updated to meet the needs of today’s students in accordance with the school’s mission of ethical learning, academic excellence and progressive education. ARO has instilled the Tate Library with a spacious and open layout, to provide better access to books, information and technology and to foster a variety of teaching and learning approaches. The new layout comprises offices, enclosed collaboration rooms, open group work areas and individual study places. The ceilings are highlighted by custom glass fiber-reinforced gypsum and new LED lighting, and the fresh study environment is designed with maximum sound absorption and thoughtful placement of furniture to showcase ample daylight and views of the campus.

This comprehensive renovation of Tate Library at ECFS has morphed the iconic 1970 building into a learning commons that is a hub for the entire campus. In support of ECFS’s mission of ethical learning, academic excellence and progressive education, the building’s new open, roomy interior offers greater access to books, information and technology.

Keeping the integrity of the original stone and concrete building, the exterior changes include new windows with “bird-friendly” glazing and a new main entrance facing the campus quadrangle. A reworked interior layout, technology infrastructure, environmental systems, and LED lighting optimizes the user experience and also considers evolving future needs. Custom glass fiber reinforced gypsum (GFRG) ceilings in the open areas integrate lighting and complement the continuity of the space. Careful zoning of activities and acoustical treatment, as well as new enclosed collaboration rooms, offices and support spaces around the perimeter of the building, boost group and individual studies.

The main construction work on the 23,000-square-foot project took place from June 2017 to October 2018, and was overseen by Consigli.

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After a January vote approving work at both Gallup Hill School and Ledyard Middle School, school board members have added O&G Industries of Torrington, Conn., the state’s largest privately held construction firm, to the project team. O&G will act as construction manager for the $28.6 million expansion and renovation project at Gallup Hill School and the $35.6 million expansion and renovation of Ledyard Middle School.

School officials have been reviewing options for consolidating, closing, expanding or renovating the school facilities for several years. Previous analyses have looked at site conditions, exterior and interior facility conditions, mechanical and electrical needs, code compliance issues and asbestos abatement.

Gallup Hill School, which will remain fully occupied during construction, was built in 1965 and hasn’t undergone any major renovations or additions since it was completed. Construction on the 14.6-acre site will expand the facility from 40,000 square feet to more than 86,000 square feet. The project’s primary focus is on increasing the Pre-K-6 school’s overall capacity. Upon completion, the student body will nearly double from 350 to just less than 700. Once all work is complete, the added capacity will allow for the closure of Ledyard Center School.

Ledyard Middle School, built in 1971, currently serves just seventh- and eighth-grade students. However, construction will expand the facility from 75,000 square feet to 93,000 square feet, allowing the school to add another full grade. Once completed, the renovated-to-new school will serve more than 550 sixth to eighth graders, consolidating all of the district’s sixth graders into a single facility. The school also shares a nearly 40-acre site with both Juliet W. Long School and Gales Ferry School.

Architecture, engineering and interior design collaborative Silver/Petrucelli + Associates of Hamden, Conn., is serving as the project architect. The firm has worked with the district since 2013 on studies, preliminary design recommendations, floor plans and budgets. Construction on both projects is anticipated to begin in January 2017.
 

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