Hinsdale School could be brook-free

Demolition, renovation would add space to building, remove flood threat

WINSTED — If plans go as envisioned, Mary P. Hinsdale Elementary School no longer will have a river running under it.

“When we went to the state in January and they confirmed a fully 70 percent reimbursement” for two key renovation projects, consultant Dean Petrucelli said, it was decided that the two-story building, under which the “Gilbert Home Brook” flows, could be demolished.

“This is one of the only towns in the state that has a river under a (school) building,” said Petrucelli, a principal architect with Silver, Petrucelli & Associates Inc. of Hamden, project managers.

Architectural drawings presented to the Hinsdale School Renovation Committee Monday night on the district’s proposed renovation project show the brook would be “opened up all the way” across the school property, Petrucelli said.

Plans show the state would reimburse the Winchester Public School District for 70 percent of the expected cost of $2 million to demolish the two-story building on the Spencer Street side of the school property.

The cost “includes constructing the exposed (brook),” Petrucelli said, which would allow the waterway to flow freely toward the Mad River. He said the project would also remove “the scenario that the 100-year flood” could damage the building.

“Floodwater has gone into the school,” committee member Steve Vaill has said. He researched historical town documents to find that floods had damaged Hinsdale School five times in about 30 years.

Since the proposed demolition of the two-story portion of the school would decrease the amount of classroom space, the architects have suggested the construction of a 7,700-foot addition on the Williams Avenue side of the property, Petrucelli said.

The addition is expected to cost $3.6 million, the committee was told, all of which would also be eligible for a 70 percent reimbursement.

The size of the renovated building would be about 40,000 square feet, Petrucelli said.

The total cost of the renovation plan is projected to be $16.7 million, which, after state reimbursement, would cost the school district $9.8 million.

Based on the state grant calendar, Petrucelli said his firm must file the school renovation proposal by June 30. That gives the committee just a few months to hold a referendum requesting approval to pay for the project.

“We will hold a series of public meetings before we entertain a date for the referendum,” said Mayor Candy Perez.

The committee’s next meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 11 at Winsted Town Hall.