Project Description
Since the mid 1800s, this 25,000 square foot building has served Maynard as the Assabet Elementary School and as the Roosevelt Elementary School. It was resurrected twice from devastating fires in 1864 and 1916, when only the granite foundation survived. It was closed in 1988 and sat vacant until its recent reincarnation as the town’s library. Due to extreme weather and water damage, the historic facades and entrances were the only salvageable features.
Colantonio was careful eliminate any unnecessary stresses to the existing masonry exterior and granite foundation. We secured the solid brick facade on all four exterior walls in place with an exterior steel structure while we replaced the roof and interior floor structures. We built a new, structural steel-framed building inside the existing four walls, which were permanently attached to the new structure. We then removed the temporary exterior support structure.
The existing rubble foundation was underpinned in its location to achieve a nine-foot ceiling height for the basement level. We replaced the windows with historically accurate reproductions.
