2. “When I talk with folks that have been in other places where horrible tragedies have occurred, they have
identified benchmark events such as the creation of a new building as important developments marking
the next phase of their journey,” said Pat Llodra, Newtown’s first selectman. “We don’t ever want to say
as we move away from the events of 2012 that we have forgotten, because it will always be part of who we
are. But we also have to recognize our obligation to the future.”
No one is suggesting the new, 87,000-square-foot building alone can take away the trauma associated
with the second-deadliest school shooting in American history. But leaders are saying that the right kind
of building can stimulate healing by tapping into the connectedness that already exists in nature.
With that philosophy in mind, town leaders decided two things had to happen after residents voted to
raze the school building that gunman Adam Lanza shot his way into with a an assault rifle. First, it was
important to get as many people as possible involved in the conversation about the building’s design.
Second, it was important to leverage all of architecture’s potential to stimulate good moods, to encourage
new connections and to establish a secure environment without creating a prison.
“That is the difference between a school building that is a brick box and a school building that resonates
with a purpose and with a meaning that is embedded in the community and in its beliefs,” said Barry
Svigals, the New-Haven based sculptor and project architect.
Svigals and the 58-member advisory committee designed the new school to take advantage of the natural
landscape of the site on Dickinson Drive.
“Nature was the heart of our inspiration because nature has a deeply healing effect on people,” Svigals
said. “So this is much more than just a building that provides for basic functional needs. This reaches into
our aesthetic and spiritual needs.”
The construction phase of the project comes four months after contractors broke ground in October and
one year after the old school was razed on the same Dickinson Road property, leaving an undisturbed
green space that will remain in the shadows of the new school.
Whatever the town's memorial committee decides about establishing a place of remembrance for the
victims of Dec. 14, the decision will not involve the hallowed ground of the old school site.
In downtown Sandy Hook, which has not been the same since the school was torn down and students
were moved to a school in Monroe, merchants are looking forward to the reconstruction.
“I’m happy the school is getting rebuilt and I’m looking forward to seeing people coming back,” said
Marci Benitez, owner of Family Fun Cuts and Family Kids Consignment on Church Hill Road. “We
have to look on the bright side and try to make this as positive as possible.”
3. More than a building
There is little danger of raising expectations too high about what one new school building can
accomplish, leaders say, because no one in the community mistakes the new elementary school for just
another new school building.
“For the families who were hurt the most, this building will always be symbolic,” said schools
Superintendent Joseph Erardi. “It will be a state-of-the-art teaching and learning complex, but we will
always hold on to the extraordinary loss that the building represents. For that reason alone, it is more than
just a building.”
A rendering of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The building also is unusual from an architectural standpoint. The gentle arc of the front façade is
designed to feel like open arms. Three classroom wings extend like fingers into wooded landscape of the
campus, replicating an open hand. Overlooking a central courtyard are two second-floor breakout spaces
designed to feel like tree houses.
Mitchell, the chairman of the construction oversight committee, said he knew architects had the right
idea when he overheard two people talking about the blueprints during a public hearing.
“One of them said, ‘That doesn't look much like a school,’ and I turned around and said to her, ‘Thank
you very much,’” Mitchell said.
Town leaders were so determined to incorporate nature into the school design that they hired Stephen
Kellert, an ecological scholar from Yale University, as a consultant.
“From the ashes of tragedy they had a desire to affirm life and create a positive place for children to
grow,” said Kellert, professor emeritus of social ecology at Yale. “There is a lot of data to support that
nature can do that.”
Svigals agreed.
“This site is going to be so completely transformed that even people who are familiar with it will find it
difficult to recognize where they are,” he said.
rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
