Caryl Community Center

The new community center design involves the demolition of the 1971 and 1931 additions to the original 1910 Caryl School and partial regrading of the site to make the whole project fully accessible (something which the current building is not). The new building complex will be almost 20,000 s.f. which is approximately one half the size of the existing school building. During the Feasibility Study the Structural Engineer examined the existing building and found that the original building was the most suitable part for re-use as a community center and therefore this became the focus of the Renovation/Addition option. This was confirmed during Design Development with invasive exploration of the wall construction and test pits at the stone foundation.

This design focus is the creation of a new pavilion addition at the corner of Springdale Avenue and Centre Street. This pavilion is in roughly the same location as the 1971 addition but (unlike that addition) is meant to be much more compatible with the 1910 school building. It will house the Community Room, a small kitchen and self-service café to support a range of functions from congregate dining to small performances, presentations, and even theatrical rehearsals. The form of the pavilion is inspired by the Dover library with its hipped roofs and is meant to be a beacon showing off activity (especially at night). As the pavilion is a single-story space the roof is a prominent feature and it is currently intended to be slate.

The other main component of the addition is the Recreation Room which will be half the size of a regulation basketball court, but lined to support pickleball, elementary school level basketball, and a regulation half-court (for team practices or adult games). The south elevation of the Recreation Room is more functionally oriented than the Pavilion, with high clerestory windows that are shaded to minimize glare on the court surface. The brick of the Rec. Room is a more contemporary extruded red brick which will look nice next to the water-struct traditional brick of the 1910 building while being contemporary. The circulation space on both floors between the Recreation Room and the renovated spaces of the 1910 building are what we call infill space and meant to visually recede, which is why it has a neutral darker brick.