After Friday’s earthquake resulted in the relocation of Central Middle School students to Greenwich High School, there was good news Sunday night.
Central Middle School. Sunday, April 7, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager
Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones and CMS principal Tom Healy wrote to families that after a thorough inspection on Saturday by Gap Mountain Consulting Engineers and the school district’s Facilities Dept, and approval by the DPW Building Inspection Division, the school was deemed safe to be occupied again.
After the earthquake on Friday, the building department closed the school and posted a red sign on the front door announcing it “Dangerous and Unsafe for Human Occupancy.”
For those following the saga of the 1950s era school, the turn of events was a touch of déjà from Feb 4, 2022, when the school was previously condemned and children dispersed to other schools.
Signage posted on CMS front door, signed by the town building official and dated April 5, 2024
Signage posted back on Feb 4, 2022 declaring CMS Dangerous and Unsafe for Human Occupancy
“CMS will operate as normal, and on time, tomorrow,” Dr. Jones and Principal Healy wrote to CMS families Sunday night, adding, “There has been no new structural damage due to Friday’s earthquake, the new cracks (or widening of existing cracks) that were noticed do not impact the integrity of the building, and because the engineer had conducted the inspections of CMS in the past and knows the building very well, we are extremely confident in his findings and the continued safety of the building for our students and staff.”
The email said that the engineer who inspected the building on Saturday had been a sub-contractor to Diversified Technology Consultants (DTC), during previous inspections and has been the district’s key consulting engineer since then. Gap Mountain has taken the lead as the district’s structural consultant since DTC was no longer prioritizing their work in the State of Connecticut.
Gap Mountain’s work includes monitoring the building for seismic activities and the district anticipates that the minor repairs mentioned in the inspection report will be completed this summer after the engineer proposes further action steps.
“Thank you for your cooperation, coordination and understanding during the past few days,” they added.
The report from Gap Mountain’s engineer said, “We observed the condition of facades that were repaired earlier under our design and resident engineering of the construction project. We observed no cracking or failure in the façade and find that the retrofit wall ties performed as designed for seismic response. Facades do not appear to have been impacted by the earthquake or extreme winds.”
The report concluded, “… our overall findings are that the building requires minor maintenance and repairs in the sallyport, and the basic structure was not impacted by the earthquake. The building remains in serviceable condition and is suitable for continued use as a K-12 school.”