The Fairfield Board of Education has hired Svigals + Partners, an architecture and art integration firm, to evaluate several ideas involving Dwight Elementary School, which range from a renovation of the existing structure to a complete rebuild.
Board Chair Jeff Peterson said a final report is expected by the end of August with detailed cost estimates. “This report will likely play into discussions town bodies will be having in the coming months about the shape of the coming project.
“If there is a new building, it will likely be constructed near the existing structure, then the old building could be torn down once students are in the new facility.”
In addition, the town has established the Dwight School Building Committee to plan, coordinate and supervise the location, siting, design, and construction of a new Dwight School.
Acting First Selectman Christine Vitale said the committee is soliciting volunteers and “once we get a good list, the board of selectmen will appoint members.” It is part of the town’s 10-year capital plan, she added, so “we are looking to get a better idea of options for long-term planning.”
Among the points of interest, she said, is the need to find space for early childhood programming, which is currently in elementary schools. “We need another location,” she said, adding that Riverfield and Osborn Hill may have additional space.
The Senior Citizen Center is now located at 100 Mona Terrace, which used to be an elementary school. “Could it be reopened as an elementary school?,” she mused, noting that its location is in a flood plain and Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations would apply.
As for Dwight, Peterson said the board is “in the midst of the process of determining the path forward for the school; it is currently the oldest of the town’s school buildings to have not received a comprehensive renovation.
“Last year, the Board of Education voted in favor of building a new school at that location. However, town government at the time opted for a process to evaluate a number of possible scenarios for the site, ranging from a renovation of the existing structure to a complete rebuild.
Dwight is one of 11 elementary schools in town, and there were 266 children enrolled as of June 1, he said.
Dwight Elementary School is named after a Colonial-era educator from Fairfield, Timothy Dwight.
