
GREENWICH 2011 GOES FOR
NEW: Timing and money are
perhaps equally important. Weston High
School was an award winning
design back in the late 1960's by TAC
(Harvard) and its auditorium looked
great still - but the technology and
electronics and general wear and tear
made it necessary to be upgraded and
have the seating replaced. Above, About Weston watercolor of the
auditorium redo under
construction.
A
R T S C E N T E
R S A
T S O U T H W E
S T E R N , C T .
P U B L I
C H I G
H S C H O O L S
COMMUNITY
SUPPORT
FOR THE ARTS:

A WARNING
TO WESTPORT COMMUNITY:
NOT HOT LINKS
BELOW: About Weston only interested in this story because it
reveals how different communities deal with similar issues - in
particular, those in school employment. In the past, Weston
has had these types of issues and more, and revealed its
personality to be at once understanding but also strict.
Personnel issues in Weston schools never seem to surface unless
there is police record to open
the matter.
- http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Greenwich-principal-apparent-finalist-for-Staples-6275158.php
- http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v2_5/comments/53642/
- http://blog.ctnews.com/realtime/2015/05/20/central-middle-principal-accepts-principal-job-at-staples-hs/
- http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Somers-to-resume-role-as-CMS-principal-2227020.php
- http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/CMS-principal-taking-leave-during-district-2206163.php
Above, M.S. Wirtenberg watercolor.
W.H.S. auditorium renovation project went ahead after a M.I.S.A.-type option rejected because Weston could not afford it.
When you consider that G.H.S. endured all the environmental problems
that Weston avoided - only because we didn't have the money to do the
project, we were fortunate. On top of that, there must have been
lots of enemies made during the campaign to get the community
behind MISA, and we wonder if this situation produced jealousy of one
segment of the education establishment for another? Of course, we
might be entirely wrong about this...full story below:
Little fallout from Greenwich High teacher saga
Greenwich TIME
By Paul Schott
Updated 5:02 pm, Saturday, December 12, 2015
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Little-fallout-from-Greenwich-High-teacher-saga-6693952.php
---------------
Raise the curtain: MISA is ready for its debut
By Paul Schott, Greenwich TIME
Updated 7:21 am, Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The wait is finally over.
Greenwich High School’s new 1,325-seat auditorium received an occupancy
certificate Tuesday from town building officials, allowing for classes
to be held there.
The band and choral groups will meet on stage, while the chorus will
also convene in the auditorium’s green room during two blocks that its
classes overlap with band sessions. Orchestra classes will be held in a
prop storage room. Those meeting places comprise a temporary setup; new
music classrooms will be built in the next year.
The first concerts in the new venue will be presented by the Greenwich Symphony on Oct. 3 and 4...story in full:
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Raise-the-curtain-MISA-is-ready-for-its-debut-6507158.php#photo-8637828
------------------
Report on condition of soil at G.H.S.: http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/GHS-closed-for-summer-for-upgrades-and-soil-6366455.php
Greenwich
boards prepare minutes to secret meeting
Robert Marchant, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:43 pm, Friday, January 2, 2015
Town officials are in the process of approving the minutes of an
illegal, closed-door meeting attended by various boards that
looked at ways to clean up contaminated soil at Greenwich High
School two years ago.
The Board of Selectmen recently approved the minutes of the
meeting, and the Board of Estimate and Taxation is planning to
approve its minutes of the 2013 meeting later this month. The
Board of Education is also in the process of reviewing and
approving minutes.
The BET held the special meeting Feb. 26, 2013, and asked
members of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Education to
attend. According to the agenda, the purpose of the meeting was
to discuss a "pending claim" related to the remediation of the
high school grounds.
The state's Freedom of Information law allows litigation to be
discussed in executive session behind closed doors...story in
full: http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Greenwich-boards-prepare-minutes-to-secret-meeting-5991059.php#photo-7343012
Judge: Greenwich officials' meeting was illegal
Greenwich TIME
By Justin Pottle
Published 8:14 pm, Friday, October 31, 2014
A judge has upheld the state Freedom of Information Commission's
ruling that a closed-door meeting Greenwich officials held to
discuss ground contamination was illegal.
The judge on Thursday dismissed the town's appeal of that ruling
-- rejecting its argument that members of three boards were
legally justified meeting in private because they were discussing
a legal claim. He upheld the FOI Commission's finding that
officials instead discussed and reached consensus on how best to
clean up contaminated soil at Greenwich High School -- before
remediation options were presented to the public...story in full :
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Judge-Greenwich-officials-meeting-was-illegal-5862253.php.
THE "I DIDN'T KNOW" PHENOMENON IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Read
it and weep - reminds me of
this in Weston recently...
Toxic secrets
Greenwich TIME
Bill Cummings and Michael P. Mayko
Updated 12:46 pm, Monday, June 16, 2014
GREENWICH -- At least two years before PCBs and other toxins were
found at Greenwich High School in 2011, the town had compelling
evidence that something foul was lurking underground there.
Yet no one probed the suspicious soil or investigated further,
even as students in one of the wealthiest communities in the
nation continued to play sports on the lush athletic fields where
layers of dangerous contaminants were hidden just inches below the
turf in some areas...read
this long investigative report here.
Show MISA the money
Project needs additional funds and approval from BET and
RTM
Paul Schott, Greenwich TIME
Published 11:07 pm, Monday, March 17, 2014
After passing two key auditions, the latest funding request
for the embattled MISA performing-arts complex under construction
at Greenwich High School is about to face another tough audience.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation will decide at its budget
meeting Thursday whether or not to support a request from the MISA
Building Committee for $2.37 million to replenish the project's
contingency fund...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
GHS soil remediation to take longer than hoped
Justin Pottle, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:39 pm, Saturday, March 15, 2014
Soil remediation at Greenwich High School could take as long as
four years instead of two, Public Works officials say, following a
state agency's announcement that it will not approve plans to
remove PCBs from the ground in time for work to begin this summer.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is,
however, expected to approve plans for arsenic removal on the
site's south side early next week.
Town officials had planned to complete contaminant removal at the
high school over the next two summers.
"This means instead of a 2-3 year project, we have a 3-4 year
project," Public Works Commissioner Amy Siebert said in an email...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Town sells $45M in bonds, $85M in
short-term notes
Greenwich TIME
Posted on January 22, 2014 | By Justin Pottle
Greenwich is putting its AAA three-peat to good use.
Last week, the town sold $45 million in general obligation bonds
to an underwriting syndicate helmed by New York City-based firm
Roosevelt & Cross, who beat out 12 other bids, at an effective
interest rate of 2.4459 percent. The sum will go toward funding
the towns numerous capital projects, including renovations to
Nathaniel Witherell and GHS MISA, as well as numerous smaller
capital projects around town.
The town has similarly issued $85 million in one-year Bond
Anticipation Notes. Purchased by J.P. Morgan, the short-term notes
received the lowest interest rates in the town’s history for such
a security at 0.1315 percent. The notes will go toward the Central
Fire Station Project, town paving, sewer improvements, alongside
MISA and other projects.
“The impressive number of bids and the low interest rates received
were a reflection of the Town’s excellent credit ratings and
respected name in the municipal bond market,” said Comptroller
Peter Mynarski Jr.in a January statement. “The credit rating
agencies noted the Town’s abundant taxable resources, extremely
high wealth characteristics and sound financial management as
credit strengths.”
The total sale was the most town debt sold in its history, a
result of good ratings and the need for funds for numerous large
projects...
HOW
DID
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
COMMISSION GET INTO THE ACT?
AS REPORTED IN THE GREENWICH TIME...WHICH
ISN'T EXACTLY NEUTRAL HERE:
"The
Board
of Estimate and Taxation, the Board of
Education and the Board of Selectmen
illegally met in a closed-door session
last year to discuss remediation options
for soil contamination at Greenwich High
School, the state's Freedom of
Information Commission has ruled.
Furthermore,
the
Commission determined that during the
secret meeting, members of those boards
'reached a consensus' on the course the
town should take in cleaning up the site
-- before remediation options were
presented to the public.
The
decision
is in response to a complaint made to
the commission by Greenwich Time.
The
newspaper,
in a petition filed in April, argued
that government officials on those
boards 'improperly convened' in an
executive session during a Feb. 26,
2013, special meeting of the BET.
The
meeting's
posted agenda stated that a pending
legal claim related to eliminating soil
contamination at the high school would
be discussed during the executive
session.
Under
state
law, pending claims constitute an
allowable reason for public officials to
hold executive sessions, which are not
open to the public.
But
Greenwich
Time asserted that the meeting was held
to discuss potential environmental
remedies for the contamination, and
should have been conducted in public.
"It
is
found that the matters discussed in
executive session were public matters,"
FOI Hearing Officer Valicia Dee Harmon
wrote in a case report, which the FOI
Commission unanimously adopted without
changes on Wednesday. 'It is further
found that there was no basis upon which
to exclude the public from this
discussion.'
Town
Attorney
John Wayne Fox told Greenwich Time on
Friday that he has recommended that the
town appeal the decision to state
Superior Court..." Article in full
here.
School board
OK's additional MISA expense
Paul Schott, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:31 pm, Thursday, March 6, 2014
The Board of Education on Thursday
approved a request for an additional $2.37
million in contingency funds for the
construction of the new performing arts
complex at Greenwich High School, a move
that responds to cost overruns produced by
an unforeseen scope of environmental
remediation work and construction delays.
The committee overseeing construction of
the musical instruction space and
auditorium project, known as MISA, made
the request for the additional funding.
MISA construction is running about four to
five months behind schedule, according to
Joe Ross, the MISA Building Committee's
chairman. The delay is linked to recent
water leaks into the auditorium's
orchestra pit, which pushed back by
several months the start of steel work for
the auditorium, and to weather-caused
building disruptions...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
School board
OKs GHS soil cleanup
Paul Schott, Greenwich TIMES
Updated 9:39 pm, Saturday, October 26,
2013
The Board of Education has endorsed a
long-term plan to remove contaminated soil
found on the Greenwich High School campus
in 2011.
Developed by the consulting firm AECOM,
the plan sets a course for remediation to
take place during the summer vacations in
2014 and 2015, which will require
relocating summer school and athletic
programs normally held at Greenwich High.
AECOM's remediation plan will require
approval from the federal Environmental
Protection Agency....
Town and education officials conducted a
forum to discuss the plan Sept. 18 at the
high school, which was sparsely attended.
The following day, Siebert and Malcolm
Beeler, an AECOM project manager,
presented a summary of the remediation
plan and took questions during a school
board meeting.
Soil containing contaminants such as
polychlorinated biphenyls, arsenic,
pesticides and benzopyrene was discovered
in July 2011, when site work began on the
$44 million musical instruction space and
auditorium project at the high school.
That discovery halted construction and
precipitated a long review by a number of
agencies to address health and
environmental concerns before work could
resume. Construction of MISA resumed in
July.
PCBs were also found in the MISA complex
footprint, which has necessitated soil
remediation there, as well.
After field remediation is completed, an
inspection, maintenance and monitoring
plan will be developed outlining measures
needed to maintain the effectiveness of
existing and yet-to-be constructed protective barriers.
In addition, an environmental land-use
restriction will be recorded in land
records to guard against inappropriate
excavation at Greenwich High.
Story in full at Greenwich TIME.
After a long
delay, work on MISA project
is underway
Paul Schott, Greenwich TIME
Updated 11:31 pm, Monday, July 8, 2013
Old auditorium above left, MISA copmplex,
to its right. No one believes that
the costs will not continue to rise in the
future. After years of impassioned, and sometimes
loud, public debate, construction of the
$44 million auditorium project at
Greenwich High, known as MISA, kicked off
quietly Monday...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
RTM approves
budget, MISA funding
Neil Vigdor, Greenwich TIME
Updated 1:01 am, Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Representative Town Meeting decided in
a squeaker Monday night to keep the
funding spigot turned on for a
much-maligned performing arts center
project at Greenwich High School, the
subject of an intensifying debate over its
cost and ambitiousness.
A $9.8 million bonding measure for the
construction of a new campus auditorium
and music instruction space survived the
latest challenge from budget hawks on the
same night the RTM separately approved a
$427 million budget for the upcoming
fiscal year. Coming perilously close
to a midnight deadline for completing its
deliberations, the RTM voted 118 to 92
with one abstention in favor of the
measure...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Officials rethinking MISA after high
bids
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 1:12 pm, Friday, March 15, 2013
The architects of the $37 million
Greenwich High School music instruction
space and auditorium project are
scrambling to reassess their options after
construction bids came in more than $6
million over budget...
Former Board of
Education Chairman Genny Krob, a
member of the fundraising campaign for
the project, which has brought in more
than $1 million so far, wondered
whether there were fewer bids than
expected because contractors think the
high school is a "toxic waste dump."
Meeting Tuesday morning to discuss the
bids that came in last week, members of
the committee are considering some changes
to a project that has many supporters, but
was a hard sell because of its high cost.
Complicating matters is that the town will
also have to spend millions of dollars to
remove contaminated soil, discovered
during initial site work for MISA, from
the high school property...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Testing done at GHS fields
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:16 p.m., Monday, August 27, 2012
Four of Greenwich High School's artificial turf fields have
reopened after soil, groundwater and surface water were tested for
toxic chemicals...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
4 GHS fields to close as more soil,
water testing begins
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 07:06 a.m., Sunday, June 24, 2012
Students may no longer be using pencils and books at Greenwich
High School, but that means the real work will begin to test soil,
groundwater and surface water on the campus for toxic
chemicals...story in full at Greenwich TIME - this is a story that
should resonate with any town that upgrades on old high school.
MISA's
next hurdle comes from the feds
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Published 01:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 29,
2012
With annual funding victories, it may seem
as if it will be smooth sailing for
construction of the new auditorium and
music classrooms at Greenwich High School...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
More
approvals needed for MISA to proceed
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:34 p.m., Tuesday, May 15, 2012
While the Representative Town Meeting
Monday night supported an additional $12
million in funding for the new Greenwich
High School auditorium, the district still
needs some other approvals before shovels
can go in the ground...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
MISA survives
town budget cut
Neil Vigdor, Greenwich TIME
Updated 11:35 p.m., Monday, May 14, 2012
The powerful forces behind the
much-debated construction of a new
auditorium at Greenwich High School
literally pulled all the right strings
Monday night, successfully lobbying the
Representative Town Meeting to preserve
$12 million in funding for the project as
part of a record-setting $404 million
municipal budget package approved by the
notoriously circumspect legislative body.
A motion to delete funding for the music
instruction space and auditorium project
known as MISA failed, with the RTM voting
137-65 against the measure during marathon
budget deliberations at Central Middle
School. There were also two abstentions...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
MISAppropriation
move...the smoking gun?
RTM committee chairman faces impeachment
Neil Vigdor, Greenwich TIME
Updated 11:31 p.m., Tuesday, May 8, 2012
A sitting chairman of a key Representative Town
Meeting committee, one whose fingerprints are all over
the recommended $404 million annual town budget, is
facing a rare impeachment attempt by fellow members of
the group less than a week before the legislative body
votes on the massive fiscal package...
The full RTM is scheduled to hold its deliberations on
the proposed $404 million town budget at 7 p.m. Monday
at Central Middle School. The item garnering the
most scrutiny is a $12 million tranche of funding for
a performing arts center at Greenwich High School, a
project that led to the discovery of soil toxins in
and around the construction site. The RTM
approved $17 million last year for the music
instruction space and auditorium project known as
MISA...
The Finance Committee also took up a motion Monday
night to delay the second tranche of funding for the
project until the full costs of the environmental
cleanup are known, a measure that ended in a 6-6
deadlock...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
RTM members ponder: At
what cost MISA?
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Published 01:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A year ago, Gordon Ennis considered himself a
supporter of the music instruction space and
auditorium project proposed for Greenwich High School...got to read full article at Greenwich TIME!
School board hesitant to make cuts
to MISA
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:28 p.m., Thursday, April 5, 2012
Despite the rising cost to build the new auditorium
and music instruction space at Greenwich High School,
Board of Education members say they are hesitant to
make cuts and repeat mistakes made when the school was
built in the late 1960s...(sounds familiar!!! - story in full at Greenwich TIME re: Main story).
Opponents speak out against MISA
costs
Neil Vigdor, Greenwich TIME
Updated 10:38 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Foes of a planned performing arts
center at Greenwich High School urged the town's
budget architects Tuesday night to delay the
controversial project, one that has seen its cost
balloon from $28 million to $37 million due to soil
contamination and other unforeseen conditions
discovered at the site..."I consider it reckless and fiscally imprudent to
allow MISA to go ahead as originally planned," Hyland
said...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Cost of GHS auditorium closer to
$37M
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Published 10:30 p.m., Thursday, March 8, 2012
The price tag for a new auditorium at Greenwich High
School is going to be nearly $10 million more than
originally thought.
Joseph Ross, who heads the building committee for the
music instruction space and auditorium project, known
as MISA, presented the Board of Education with updated
cost projections at a work session Thursday night.
The original price tag of $28 million -- which doesn't
include architecture and engineering costs -- will
likely be closer to $37 million once toxic soil,
delays because of the soil contamination and other
unexpected costs are factored in.
Ross said it's estimated that addressing contaminated
soil in the footprint for the new building will cost
close to $4 million...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Federal, state approval
needed before MISA project begins
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Published 06:57 p.m., Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The district is awaiting word from federal and state
officials on whether it can move forward with plans to
build a new auditorium at Greenwich High School, while
addressing soil contamination at the building's
footprint separately from the rest of the school
property...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Report: Toxic soil at GHS must be removed
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME
Updated 06:31 p.m., Friday, February 17, 2012
In case Greenwich residents missed it...the newspaper repeats
publication the next day, too.
Report: Toxic soil at GHS must be removed
Greenwich TIME
Lisa Chamoff
Updated 10:44 p.m., Thursday, February 16, 2012
Soil with the highest degree of contamination will have to be
removed before construction of a new Greenwich High School
auditorium can begin, according to a report released by the school
district Thursday.
The report, prepared by AECOM, the environmental consultant hired
by the town to address contamination at the school, lists the
concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, as well as
metals found in the footprint for the new auditorium...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
District: Toxic soil cleared from Greenwich High
fields
Greenwich TIME
Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer
Updated 10:46 p.m., Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Work to clear contaminated soil from Greenwich High School's
athletic fields has been completed, and some of the seven fields
that have been closed since the summer are expected to reopen
soon, the district announced Wednesday.
Remediation on artificial turf fields 3 and 4 and grass field 2
was recently finished, according to an update issued by the
district. The fields are still closed to the public, pending
approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection to reopen. Fall maintenance is currently being
conducted on the grass field, which would likely reopen in the
spring...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Could escalating GHS environmental
cleanup tab derail auditorium project?
Neil Vigdor, Staff Writer, Greenwich TIME
Published 11:10 p.m., Monday, October 3, 2011
Insistent upon placing conditions on the release of $17 million
for the Greenwich High School auditorium project before it even
commenced, budget architects appear increasingly reluctant to open
the spigot until the full costs of cleaning up contaminated soil
discovered at the site are reckoned.
To date, $3.1 million has been spent on the multi-phase project,
according to the town, which earmarked $17 million in the current
fiscal year and $12 million next year for the construction of a
new auditorium and adjoining music instruction space.
But the project's final price tag is as nebulous as what lies
beneath the footprint of the planned performing arts center, one
that has roiled budget hawks...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
RTM approves $1.2 million in cleanup
for contaminated soil
Greenwich TIMES
Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer
Updated 10:37 a.m., Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Representative Town Meeting voted Monday to approve nearly
$1.2 million in funding to finance the cleanup of contaminated
soil at Greenwich High School and replenish funds that have
already been spent from the school's auditorium project budget in
response to toxins found on school property...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
PCBs detected in soil at GHS fields
Greenwich TIME
Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer
Updated 10:24 p.m., Friday, August 12, 2011
Additional tests have turned up contaminated soil at or near four
of Greenwich High School's athletic fields, including the baseball
and softball fields, district officials said on Friday...
The tests found polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, exceeding "the
most restrictive levels" along the right outfield line of softball
field 5, where it borders turf field 4, the outfield of baseball
field 2 and the west side of turf field 3, according to a
statement released by the district Friday afternoon....
Speaking about the GHS soil
contamination this week, town Conservation Director Denise
Savageau said since the school was built on wetlands, which
years ago people used as dumping grounds, it is not surprising
that contaminated soil was discovered. PCBs were also commonly
used in many materials, such as asphalt, before the federal
government banned their production in 1979.
"In terms of filling wetlands,
you will find around the state, schools are built on wetlands,"
Savageau said. "This is certainly not the first school in
Connecticut where they've found contaminated soil."
Story in full at Greenwich TIME.
BET
approves more than $1M to address
contaminated soil at high school
Greenwich TIME
Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer
Updated 07:26 a.m., Friday, August 5, 2011
The Board of Estimate and Taxation
voted Thursday night to release $1.3
million from the Greenwich High School
auditorium project to address contaminated
soil found last month during a parking lot
expansion.
An additional $152,000 for environmental
testing will have to come from the school
district, with BET members deciding that
soil testing of the high school's athletic
fields, which were closed last week after
soil with high levels of polychlorinated
biphenyls, or PCBs, was found nearby, was
not part of the auditorium and music
classroom construction project, known as
MISA...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Auditorium
project unearths contaminated soil at
Greenwich High
Lisa Chamoff, Greenwich TIME Staff
Writer
Updated 12:14 a.m., Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Construction of a new auditorium at
Greenwich High School has hit another
roadblock, with contaminated soil found
during excavation work in the parking lot
behind the school just a couple of weeks
after the district broke ground on the $29
million project...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
School
officials, students rejoice over MISA
decision
Greenwich TIME
Julie Ruth, Staff Writer
Published 11:15 p.m., Friday, April 1,
2011
As the Board of Estimate and Taxation
deliberated over the budget in Town Hall
on Thursday night, an overflow audience
packed the auditorium two miles away at
Greenwich High School to hear Eastern
Middle School students perform their
spring concert...story in full at Greenwich TIME.
Republican
attacks MISA funding decision
Greenwich TIME
Frank MacEachern, Staff Writer
Updated 11:12 p.m., Friday, April 1, 2011
A Republican member of the Representative
Town Meeting accused First Selectman Peter
Tesei, a fellow Republican, of "caving in"
to public pressure in supporting a
controversial high school auditorium
project ahead of a new downtown fire
station...story in full at Greenwich TIME.

2007 IS WHEN
THE "SEAT CAMPAIGN" STARTED...ALL FUNDS SECURED PRIOR TO 2008 MARKET BLIP; AT RIGHT, ATBM 2012 EARLY ARRIVALS; NEW SEATS, SOUND & LIGHT...
First
Selectman Woody Bliss managed to inspire the Town of
Weston to vote YET AGAIN at a Special Town Meeting to move
funds from the Performing Arts Center (addition to the
middle school) to a new project to renovate the 40 year
old, never improved at all, high school auditorium. Residents were inspired
by WestonArts and raised funds from individual Westonites
to supplement the referendum money remaining and the auditorium at the high school got
a beautiful makeover.
NEVER BUILT
Competition
Finale...January
31, 2004:
A great event for the
Weston community - no "losers" in this group of
architects--thank you so much for participating!
Thank you Weston Library
for having just the right space for this event (Community Room
addition). Winner!
A 2014
Op-Ed from one of the architectural firms not in the final
cut:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/opinion/americas-urban-future.html?hp&rref=opinion




PROLOGUE (1)
Entrance to
Community Room at Weston Library @8:30am Saturday, January 31,
2004. (Stanley Bleifeld sculpture above doorway.)
LEFT (2)
As the finale of the
competition began early in the morning Saturday, the first
group, "ARO" set up and presented their idea for Beineke
Library-like structure (but lower in height), or perhaps more
like the Whitney Museum? Building wraps around
auditorium/performance space--all elements of program appear
"there." Fairly close to budget plus Weston Education
foundation pledge.
CENTER (3)
"Office dA" had two
schemes--the "ultimate" product, with many special features,
and a modest one. Their presentation was extraordinarily
complete and detailed; "About Town" loved the depth of
development displayed, links to other arcitecturally historic
spaces. Complex and subtle and very serious entry.
RIGHT (4)
"TEN Arquitectos" was, in my
opinion, the most dramatic, inspiring, and symbolic of
creating a NEW WESTON as a result of all the school-field
projects. Like Brasilia, the new-town capitol of that
country, the architecture here by TEN makes a strong modern
statement. (A number of us in the audience REALLY,
REALLY felt this was the right choice.)
Winning
design:
Architectural Research Office ("ARO") of
N.Y.C.
Stephen Cassell,
Partner, ARO, did main presentation; consultants on
theatre design, acoustics present at Finale.

Street-scape.
Students, teachers and just plain
walkers walk from southwest between high school and middle
school...now in view...a new, really large sugar maple
identifies that you have arrived at Weston's new building, part
of our PERFORMING & CREATIVE ARTS CENTER!

Trees.
I thought "these guys got the
feeling of Weston!" BIG TREES COUNT FOR A LOT HERE!
(NOTE: Model below in shadow is on display at Weston
Library and will be at SPEAK UP (along with all boards and the
other two architecture firms' drawings and models)...

The 450 seat auditorium.
Of the three competitors, ARO stayed closest to budget for the
whole project of $4.3 million ($3.1 from Referendum).
Circulation from the several sources of traffic (i.e. from the
W.M.S. wing closest to the project site; from the pool
area; from the street and outside parking [community
access]) most clearly defined here.
"Front"
and
"back" entries sheltered from outside by wrapping of low-angle,
simple walls that are themselves an artistic element - having
tiny "windows" in various spots (up high) letting in darts of
light (like the Whitney Museum). It is interesting to me
that the buildings this solution called up to me were more
subtly designed intellectual centers in America (Whitney, Menil
Collection [pavillion look], and of course, Beineke Library at
Yale.)
