Darien officials flag failing roofs, boilers and multimillion-dollar capital needs in facilities plan

Darien School District staff outlined major capital needs on the district’s five‑year plan, saying Middlesex Middle School’s roof membrane and boilers are nearing the end of their useful life and that the high school faces a multimillion‑dollar roof replacement in the near term.

The most immediate concerns, staff said, are Middlesex’s roof and boilers, which the district has patched but which are “dry, brittle, cracking, and starting to fail,” and “the boilers, same thing,” according to Kevin, a district staff member who presented the facilities update. He said the district can still provide heat now but that the equipment is “getting past their useful life.”

Why it matters: the board was presented with figures showing a sharp increase in capital need in a single fiscal year — roughly $8 million to $9 million for the high school roof as presented in the discussion — and was told those figures do not include design fees or escalation. Staff emphasized the…