Hillhouse Auditorium’s Leaky Roof Replaced

Hillhouse High School’s auditorium now has a new, leak-free roof thanks to a nearly $300,000 replacement job completed in six months, rather than a year — as was originally predicted for the construction.

This past April the Board of Education’s Finance and Operations committee learned that the city’s second largest school, located at 480 Sherman Pkwy., has had constant water leaks in its auditorium for several years. Director of Project Management Frank Fanelli reported that various efforts were made to patch up the roof over the years. 

Despite the fact that the leaky roof, which was more than 20 years old, was reaching the end of its life, the school allowed the auditorium to be in limited use for classes and other school purposes.

The district’s Oct. 19 School Building Infrastructure & Project Management Stewardship Report documents the status of several district maintenance projects. 

The now-complete job on the 11,300 square foot section of the building’s roof by Danbury-based firm Barrett Inc. Roofing Company was funded by the district’s federal ARPA ESSER II dollars. The contractor-district agreement included a 20-year warranty guarantee, which was a qualification for the initial bid. 

The original repair plans submitted by the contractor said the job would take from May 1, 2023 to July 30, 2024. However, it did not take the full year to complete, and schools spokesperson Justin Harmon confirmed the completion of the project in October. 

Harmon further clarified that the repair job was a total replacement of the roof over the auditorium section of Hillhouse. The existing roof was removed down to the metal decking, new insulation was put down, and then new EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) roofing membrane was installed. 

Harmon added that the remaining roof on Hillhouse is also at the end of its life and needs replacement next. 

“This would be a phase two and may even be broken down further into additional phases. The auditorium section was in the worst condition and was prioritized over other areas of this roof,” Harmon said. ​“Due to the nature of the work and the disruption to the school, the remaining roof replacement will be carefully scheduled with School Administration and Central Office after it goes through the bidding process with the City of New Haven Purchasing department.”

The $292,600 cost covered the work to the external auditorium section of the roof. Additional interior work was done in conjunction with the roof project, Harmon said. This included the replacement of both the ceiling sheetrock and the carpet, upgraded LED lighting, and the repairing of all walls, the ceiling, and rails.

These renovations — due to previous leaks — cost an additional $60,000.

The building report also noted the completion of a main office roof replacement at Conte West Hills School. 

When asked about next steps for the district’s maintenance of the remaining sections of roof, Harmon said ​“there isn’t a project timetable yet, but the facilities team hopes to complete the remaining phases of the roof within six months.”

Other schools that are in the queue for total roof replacements include Fair Haven School, Conte West Hills School, and High School in the Community. 

On Wednesday morning, Director of Drama at Hillhouse Tyheed Scurry said he looks forward to a future in the school auditorium for Hillhouse’s Academic Theatre Company, but due to the originally projected timeline of repairs, the theatre group has already submitted licenses to operate in a different temporary location.

“This year it may not make a huge difference,” Scurry added. 

When asked why these repairs were an important investment to make for Hillhouse, Scurry said via e‑mail, ​“I think that unfortunately, the district did not ​‘want’ to invest into the repairs at Hillhouse. We more or less had to force the district’s hand. The Hillhouse auditorium had been in disrepair for years. Mold from the many leaks had started growing in the carpets and the walls.”

Scurry said his and several parents’ concerns were not listened to until last school year when he moved Hillhouse’s musical production to New Haven Academy ​“for safety concerns and occupancy battles with another school organization.”

He added, ​“Our parents consistently wrote to the Board of Ed, and a few weeks later — there were talks about fixing our auditorium. I wish the city would invest in our performing spaces early so that we wouldn’t run into these problems.”

Scurry spearheaded the work to start Hillhouse’s drama club in 2019 and said, ​“We look forward to building that space into a thriving arts hub for the school and community. We’ve already started looking at new lighting and sound to enhance the quality of productions that are produced. Hillhouse’s auditorium still has the same lighting from when it was built in the late 90’s (minus a few fixtures we received from another school when they got their new LED lighting package).”