Miss Porter’s School reimagines the heart of campus

THE MISS PORTER’S SCHOOL MAGAZINE

FALL 2021

The new ‘Main’

Miss Porter’s School Miss Porter bought the former hotel in 1866. The $22 million renovation was completed in March 2021.

There may have been some raised eyebrows in 1850 when Sarah Porter began renting space in a vacant hotel at the intersection of Main Street and Mountain Road. The stately Greek Revival building, which had been erected in 1831 to serve travelers on the Farmington Canal, had most recently been home to a tavern. It would have seemed an unlikely locale for the education of young ladies.

But Miss Porter was outgrowing her schoolhouse on Mountain Road, and she saw potential in the red-brick Union Hotel, with its elegant colonnade and wroughtiron balconies. She bought it for $8,000 in 1866, and it has been the beating heart of campus ever since. “Sarah Porter was able to house her students in it, teach her classes in it and feed her students in it,” said Katie Bradley, director of campus planning and design. Now, thanks to a $22 million renovation, the school’s iconic front door at 60 Main Street opens into a corridor that leads to an accessible, light-filled space where the entire campus community can dine together or gather for special events. The renovation was finished in March, and members of the class of 2021 were able to enjoy it before they graduated. “This is the core building that’s been a part of the life of every girl who has been to Miss Porter’s,” said Michael Bergin P’19, chief financial and operating officer. “We have taken the jewel of the school and made it better while maintaining its integrity. Someone who hasn’t been to campus in 50 years will feel at home in this space.” Generous gifts—and a diseased tree—made it possible

The impetus for the project was the need to have a dining hall big enough to accommodate the 400-member school community in one sitting. Since expanding Main would have meant removing a beloved European copper beech tree that may have dated back to Miss Porter’s time, school leaders began planning for a new community life building. In 2018, after the copper beech was found to be diseased, they pivoted away from the plan for a new building and decided instead to add 6,700 square feet to the west side of Main and renovate the rest of the old hotel (an additional 25,762 square feet). After a farewell ceremony for the tree under which generations of graduating Old Girls had planted ivy, it was taken down in November 2018. Fittingly, the wood was salvaged and made into benches for a ground-floor lobby/art gallery that is situated exactly where the old tree used to be. The wood was also made into small bowls for each member of the 2020 graduating class.

Wooden boards from the hotel portion of the building were also salvaged and are being made into furniture to be used elsewhere on campus. An overarching goal of the renovation was “to make sure that it was welcoming to all—to new students, to Ancients, to faculty, to the families—but most importantly, to students,” said Associate Principal Agatha Vastakis Pestilli of Centerbrook Architects, the lead project manager. “We’ve got young girls coming at the age of 14, and we wanted to make sure that the scale of the building and the materials were welcoming and not overwhelming so they felt that it was home to them.”

The renovation also offered the perfect opportunity to make significant infrastructure improvements: upgrade the campus’s power supply and infrastructure, enhance the loading dock and make Sarah Lane safer and more pedestrian friendly. The renovation was financed almost entirely by philanthropy, said Chief Advancement Officer Christine Pina. More than 40 donors gave gifts small and large—including nine principal gifts of $1 million or more—to reinvent Main for a new century.

“We have taken the jewel of the school and made it better while maintaining its integrity. Someone who hasn’t been to campus in 50 years will feel at home in this space.”

—Michael Bergin

Donor Spotlight: Mimi and Don Kirk

In 2019, when Mimi Colgate Kirk ’57 turned 80, her husband, Don, gave her a most unusual gift: a $1 million donation to Miss Porter’s School.

“It was very unexpected and I was thrilled,” said Mrs. Kirk, who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. The gift is acknowledged in a window etching that reads, “Building our tomorrows from the spirit of our past. The gift of the windows in honor of Mimi Colgate Kirk ’57 from her husband, Donald J. Kirk.”

“Main is really the heart of the school, physically and emotionally,” said Mrs. Kirk, a former trustee, campaign chair and volunteer who is herself one of the school’s leading donors. “But it had gotten quite dowdy. ... Now when prospective students walk in the front door, it will be welcoming, embracing and attractive.

“I think Ancients who might have been nervous about any changes to Main will be totally happy,” she said.

“When we presented the idea of renovating Main to Ancients, they were thrilled,” she said. “It is a captivating building, and the most well-known and revered on our campus. We are so grateful to all of our donors who recognized the unique role Main plays in fostering community at Miss Porter’s and, because of that, gave so generously.” The project came in on time and under budget, despite all the special measures that had to be taken because of COVID-19, said Mr. Bergin.

Preserving the old, adding the new

Students and faculty now dine in an expansive new space flooded with light from the enormous west-facing windows dedicated to Ancient Mimi Kirk ’57 by her husband, Don. Soft furnishings and rocking chairs provide comfortable spots to visit and socialize. The expanded front hallway includes a new staircase trimmed with the restored hotel banister. The three parlors where Miss Porter met with her students feature the original white oak floors, comfortable furnishings and an abundance of electrical outlets for the students’ laptops and other electronics. The ground floor now has a three-season colonnade and an elevator that allows universal access to the first floor, where the dining hall, parlors, head of school’s office, reception area and other offices are located. The second floor houses offices, and the third floor will continue to be a dorm for eight New Girls. “We kept the function of the spaces in the front of Main, maintaining the beautiful architectural details while opening up the front entrance,” said Ms. Bradley. “It’s very much a mixture of old and new with a very fresh, bright, clean feel.” Sarah Porter’s portrait now hangs in the new dining hall, positioned so she can look out the new windows and take in the view. We like to imagine that she is pleased with what she sees.

Building sustainability into 60 Main Street

The renovated campus hub at 60 Main Street has many features that save energy and conserve natural resources. Here are just a few examples: 1. LED lights. 2. New insulation in the walls and roof.

3. Operable windows in the dining hall for natural ventilation.

Welcoming to all

The public spaces in 60 Main Street were purposefully designed to be accessible and welcoming to all. “Our goal was to make sure that a student, a parent, a grandparent, any family member, any faculty member or anybody in our community could get to the dining hall safely, to a restroom safely and to the servery safely,” said Katie Bradley, director of campus planning and design.

Centerbrook Architects went beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act to embrace Universal Design principles, which promote equitable and flexible use of spaces by people of diverse abilities. “We had two major goals—to be as accessible as possible but designed in a way that was fitting for a beautiful, historic building,” said Ms. Bradley. To enter the new Main, someone in a wheelchair or using a walker can access the front door via an attractive, unobtrusive ramp that complements the original red-brick facade or take an elevator from the Sarah Lane entrance on the ground floor. A wheelchair lift closes the 28-inch gap in elevation between the widened front corridor and the dining hall and servery. The four restrooms on the first floor are all wheelchair accessible and are open to people of any gender identity. The dining hall furniture is arranged so aisles are wide enough for wheelchairs, even when the dining hall is at maximum capacity, and the new servery is more user friendly due to the thoughtful arrangement of food, counters and equipment. The self-service area was intentionally enlarged to allow more food options for those with dietary restrictions. Food service workers also have a dedicated locker room and a temperature-controlled kitchen. Even details as seemingly small as the position of electrical outlets and the height of the counter in the faculty mailroom have been influenced by the principles of Universal Design, said Associate Principal Agatha Vastakis Pestilli of Centerbrook Architects. “Another thing we did is take a simple and intuitive approach to all the spaces,” she said. “It’s just very easy to navigate.”

4. Water-efficient plumbing fixtures.

5. Low-E window glazing to reduce energy loss. 6. Automated controls for lighting, heating and cooling. 7. Variable kitchen exhaust fans controlled by temperature sensors. 8. Underground stormwater retention to store and filter sediment and debris. 10. Sustainable building materials. 11. Food-waste composting. 12. Vestibules, air locks and air curtains at entrance.