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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