Construction Underway On $23 Million Addition At Mill Hill School

FAIRFIELD, CT — By the end of 2021, Mill Hill Elementary School will be over 30 percent larger than it is today.

Construction is underway on the school’s more than $23 million expansion project, which was a hot topic in town last year when the specifics of the addition were being decided. Fairfield officials gathered Friday outside Mill Hill for a groundbreaking ceremony.

“This is a long time in coming,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said to the small crowd of local leaders, as well as several students equipped with hardhats and shovels, who were on hand to assist with the groundbreaking.

In 2018, a committee was created to facilitate the renovation, and the project was approved by town bodies the following year. The addition will allow the school to accommodate a capacity of 441 students. An expansion option that would have had space for a 504-student capacity was also considered.

“It’s very important to us that the kids get a very modern, up-to-date school,” committee Chair Tom Quinn said at Friday’s event.

Mill Hill’s 45,000-square-foot building is 50 years old, according to Quinn. The 15,000-square-foot addition will include four new classrooms, music and art space, offices and resource rooms, according to Principal Kevin Chase. The added square footage will eliminate the school’s need for portable classrooms, three of which are currently in use, Chase said. The project’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system will enhance classroom air movement and use ultraviolet light to minimize bacteria.

The addition is budgeted at about $23.4 million, according to school district Director of Communications Andrea Clark. The General Assembly recently approved about $5.7 million in previously budgeted state funding for the renovation, according to state Rep. Brian Farnen. The remainder of the costs will be funded using bonds.

In addition to Kupchick, Quinn, Chase and Farnen, Superintendent Mike Cummings, Board of Education Chair Christine Vitale and many others involved in the expansion attended Friday’s ceremony at the school, 635 Mill Hill Terrace.

Work began on the project in early July. It is expected to be finished November 2021.