Old Greenwich School
April 12, 2023
With Morganti acting as Owner’s Representative, Director of Pre-Construction Lawrence Rosati was photographed conducting preliminary field work in the Old Greenwich School’s halls in Old Greenwich, CT. The project is set to include renovations to the existing structure and construction of a technologically advanced, energy efficient, and accessible addition.
About The Project
Last week at the town’s Board of Estimate and Taxation 2024 budget Decision Day, the members, with a tie-breaking vote, denied the OGS renovation project’s construction, which ultimately postponed the start of the full renovation for at least another year.
However, the BET members voted in favor of appropriating slightly more than $1 million to complete the A&E designs for the OGS renovation. Last year, they appropriated $1 million to begin the design work.
Building Committee Chairperson James Waters said there are teams of about 20 professionals on-site at the OGS building while students are away doing schematic design work, including the committee’s owner’s representative, Morganti Group, who is overseeing the process.
Waters said architects and engineers from Silver Petrucelli and Associates “are completing thorough assessments focused on mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and extensive architecture design.”
Along with that, experts from Langan, an engineering consultant, are conducting phase one environmental studies, he said.
Waters said this includes “drilling geotechnical borings and conducting interior hazardous material assessments.”
The design work includes an in-depth Americans with Disabilities Act assessment. The lack of accessibility at OGS was mentioned many times by administrators, parents and private citizens at the BET's public forum last month.
"Our students with injuries should not have to be carried up the front steps for another year, or be stuck on the ground floor room with a substitute because they couldn't physically make it up the stairs to their classroom," said Kathryn Cooper, first vice president of the OGS parent-teacher association, at the public forum. "In 2023, our children should not have windows as the only source of ventilation due to the lack of HVAC in their school building. Our principal should not have to turn away any more families with mobility-challenged children due to non-compliance with the law enacted 33 years ago, thus also leaving our district vulnerable to additional lawsuits."