Facilities team outlines West Hill, Roxbury and new-school plans; rebid saves ~$500,000

Catherine Labalgo, a presenter for the Stamford School District’s school-construction team, and Mike Smith, director of facilities capital projects, briefed the district’s Operations Committee Tuesday on several multi-year construction projects and related budget steps.

Labalgo walked committee members through the West Hill High School plan, saying the new high school will be built beyond the existing building, with new parking in front and the current small gym taken offline during portions of construction. She said the stadium and existing practice field will remain in use throughout construction and that staff plan to bid an access-road contract later this summer to support the project.

The committee was told Roxbury is at the schematic-design phase — the first of three stages — and that the renderings shown are preliminary. Labalgo said the design emphasizes circulation improvements, with separated kindergarten drop-off, a bus loop off West Hill Road and playgrounds sited to reduce daytime traffic; portables on both sides of the building would be removed early in a phased construction plan to provide staging areas.

On two proposed new schools about 0.9 miles apart, Labalgo described a concept that would locate K–5 students at the Lockwood site and grades 6–8 at Horton Street (the existing K.T. Murphy site). She said grant applications to the state require space analyses and layouts and that the district has approved education (ED) specifications to support those next steps.

Mike Smith summarized near-term capital activity and procurement timelines. He said Springdale will undergo window and masonry replacement and restroom-accessibility work this summer; Still Meadow will receive eight replacement rooftop units (RTUs); Davenport will expand controls and install VAVs; and several roof projects are either ready to bid or awaiting state/DAS approval. He noted the auditorium-roof bid closed May 25 and that some projects are grant-funded and therefore require state approvals.

Smith also described Turn of River Phase 2, a controls upgrade to replace pneumatic controls with direct-digital controls. "This project was bid in the fall for approximately $1,200,000 and change," he said, but after restructuring and rebidding under a GC structure the district achieved "approximately $500,000" in savings. He said the project was approved by the planning board and will be presented to the board of finance on June 12 as a request for a special appropriation.

The presenters listed two IAQ/HVAC projects (Newfield and Bridal Wam) that received state IAQ grants covering 60% reimbursement and flagged district priorities such as fire-alarm replacements, abatement and roof work that may be eligible for state funds. They also described ongoing evaluations for solar PV on rooftop replacements as a potential additional funding-eligible measure.

Why it matters: The briefings set procurement timelines the district must meet to access state reimbursements and to sequence work so active fields and key educational spaces remain usable during construction. Projects requiring state approval will follow additional review steps, including the board of finance hearing scheduled for June 12.

The Operations Committee heard questions from members about specific elements of the AITE and West Hill projects and was reassured that the district does not currently plan to use the upper soccer field for construction; the field is slated for resurfacing because the turf is toward the end of its useful life.

The committee took no formal votes on these items during the meeting; staff said they would return with procurement details and phasing logistics when construction managers are engaged.