Old Greenwich School Renovation & Expansion Poised to Get Under Way

Years in the making, the Old Greenwich School’s phased, occupied renovation project is about to get under way.

The school, which dates back to 1902, has undergone renovations and expansions over the years, reflecting consistent enrollment pressures on the neighborhood school where four sections of both Kindergarten and 1st grade are norm and enrollment is projected to grow in coming years.

Old Greenwich School building committee chair James Waters notes the front steps are partially cordoned off due to damage, but will ultimately be removed entirely during phase 4 of the school’s renovation. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Rendering of Old Greenwich School facade after renovations. A flowering cherry tree will be removed along with the grand front staircase in order to have an accessible front door.

While there were voices urging that the school be demolished and built anew, the larger community advocated in favor of an expansion and renovation to address numerous deficiencies including the building’s lack of ADA compliance, lack of secure entryway, lack of a modern HVAC system and serious sewage backs ups during rain events.

The project advanced in fits and starts. After years of the community speaking out during public hearings, there was disappointment when in 2023 the project was deferred to 2025.

Then costs escalated and the project was rebid.

The town has now approved $55.8 million for the project after an additional $8.17 million was requested to address cost increases.

Work is expected to be complete in January 2029.

Construction Fencing

Building committee chair James Waters said residents might be surprised when construction fencing is erected later this week.

This will mark the start of phase 1A of the multi-phase project.

When the fencing goes up, the playground will be off limits.

“The entire playground and blacktop area will be off limits until the end of summer 2027,” he said, adding that the playground was in the queue for replacement anyway.

Old Greenwich School building committee chair James Waters inside a ground level entrance door that gives the impression of accessibility, just inside there is a choice of descending 5 steps or ascending 12 steps. Photo: Leslie Yager

Waters, the OGS building committee chair, stands at the spot where a new addition of four kindergarten classrooms will extend. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Row of trees along the field at the back of Old Greenwich School will be preserved. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Row of trees along the field at the back of Old Greenwich School will be preserved. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Mature tree will need to be removed to make room for the addition at the back of Old Greenwich School

Playground at rear of Old Greenwich School will be replaced as part of the phased renovation and expansion of Old Greenwich School. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Waters explained that construction access will come across the back of the school, away from a row of mature trees that will remain.

“Then, this summer, closer to the end of the school year we’ll be doing in depth work on the gymnasium, cafeteria, music and art room as part of phases 1 and 2,” he said.

Waters said the existing playground will not be available until the fall when a new playground will be installed.

One set of existing swings and a play “spider” will likely remain.

“We’re trying to get part of the new playground open in the fall,” he said.

Waters said phase 1A will take the longest because it includes removal of the existing playground, blacktop and a mature tree that is directly in the way of the addition.

The square shape kindergarten addition will contain four classrooms, situated in a way to create an interior courtyard between the addition and the existing building.

View of kindergarten from southwest corner with Gaga pit.

View of kindergarten addition from different angle.

The area with the double stair wells will be the site of an elevator. Today the building has a total of six different levels, all accessed by flights of stairs. There are a total of 77 steps to move from the bottom to the top of the school. March 29, 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

The Elevator is phase 1C and Waters said the hope is for it to completed by the end of 2026. It will rise from a back corner where today there is a double stairwell.

Waters said they also hope to move forward phase 2A (cafeteria/kitchen) and 2B (gymnasium) over the summer and have those completed by fall.

Next summer phase 3, will begin featuring renovations to the main building. This will begin the more intensive renovation of classrooms, and include installation of sprinklers, HVAC and ADA compliance.

After years of shepherding the project through BOE, P&Z and RTM, Waters said next steps required coordination with town departments including the tree warden, fire marshal, Parks & Rec, and even registrars of voters as the actual start date approaches.

Waters noted there could be a primary election for mid-terms in district 6, where the school gymnasium is typically a polling station, but he was coordinating with Registrars of Voters.

“We have already worked out a plan to use Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center for a summer primary. Should that plan stay on track, all eligible District 6 voters will receive a postcard closer to an August 9 primary,” Republican registrar of voters Fred DeCaro said in an email on Monday.

Waters said since the fields behind Old Greenwich School are heavily used, with as many as three baseball games taking place at a time, Parks & Rec is coordinating scheduling carefully.

Reviewing the latter phases, he said phase 3 will start at the south side of the building where children’s classrooms will be shuffled.

“The renovation is stacked, so they’ll offline one section of the building at a time,” Waters said.

Phase 4 will focus on the main front facade of the building, and phase 5 is the back and interiors of the building, and phase 6 focuses on the right side of the building.

Waters said Phase 3 is critical because that is when some of the classrooms will be shut down.

“The media center will be divided into three or four classrooms temporarily until we finish,” he said. “We also need the four classrooms in the addition because we don’t want to close more than 8 classrooms at a time.”

As for the pesky sewage problem, he said the project not only includes redoing all the sewer lines out to the street, but adding various back-flow valves. One particular classroom where groundwater comes up through a toilet, the floor will be raised almost three feet.

“That should no longer be an issue,” he said as he pointed to a sandbag on the ground under the front stairs. “The front stairs will be all gone.”

“There is a careful raising and lowering we’re trying to do – obviously coordinated with Zoning and FEMA, so we don’t get the flooding inside the building, but we also have the runoff outside the building,” Waters said.

Stairwell under the front entry of Old Greenwich School is a remnant of a previous rain event.

*The basement features a fleet of wet vacs. Feb 3, 2023 Photo: Leslie Yager*

Waters recalled many obstacles along the way.

“The first couple of years there was a constant battle with the BET to get the project fully funded. As I told the RTM in February when we were seeking an interim appropriation, we probably wasted in excess of 6 months just seeking funding for the project,” he recalled, adding that the project had to be re-bid and tariffs ended up costing the Greenwich taxpayers more.

After a groundbreaking in April 2025, the timeline for the project was revised. The project start was changed from June 2025 to April 2026.

Old Greenwich School building committee at a ground breaking ceremony. April 23, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager

Old Greenwich School building committee chair James Waters at the Old Greenwich School ground breaking. April 23, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager

Waters complimented the building committee members who have been meeting for almost 3-1/2 years, with all the original members in place.

“It’s a really good building committee. People are working really hard. They’re all engaged. They’re all volunteers and show up at 7:00am every week. They all want to get this done,” he said.

He described committee vice chair Jackie Welsh, an architect, as “the unsung hero of the project.”

“She knows every in and out and makes my life so much easier,” Waters said.

“Also, people like (former Greenwich Schools teacher and administrator) Barbara O’Neill have tremendous institutional knowledge,” he added.

“It has been a long road. Would we have loved to have done it faster? It would have been cheaper,” Waters said. “I think everyone should have confidence that we’ve looked at this as many ways as you can and we’re going to preserve this beautiful building for the next generation.”

*Historic postcard of the original Old Greenwich School does not feature the grand staircase. That was added in the 1990s. The original school had a smaller set of stairs.* *Image courtesy Greenwich Historic District Commission*

In 1A the new kindergarten classroom addition is roughly a square connected to the rear of the existing school via corridors that will create an interior courtyard.

Most of the historic facade of Old Greenwich School will be preserved, but the front steps will be removed to create a ground level entry. Gone will be the massive window air conditioners.

Flowering cherry tree outside the front of the school is posted for removal to make way for the removal of front steps and new ground level entryway.