Brunswick School weighs buying central Greenwich campus for Early Childhood Center, faculty housing

GREENWICH — A new educational operation, the Brunswick Early Childhood Center, could be coming to the former Carmel Academy site on Lake Avenue along with more faculty housing for the independent all boys school.

Brunswick School submitted an application to the town Planning Department to purchase the property and create an Early Childhood Center for youngsters in kindergarten, prekindergarten and nursery school at the historic campus. Brunswick also has a campus for its upper school in central Greenwich and for its pre- and lower schools on King Street in the backcountry.

Plans for Chabad Lubavitch of Greenwich to acquire the Lake Avenue site and operate a school at the campus fell through earlier this year.

Carmel Academy, an independent school that offered education rooted in the Jewish faith, closed its doors at the end of the school year in spring 2020, merging with another educational organization in Westchester County, N.Y. Carmel Academy still owns the 17-acre property at 270 Lake Ave.

The Japanese School, which leased space at the Lake Avenue campus for three decades, has relocated and no longer operates there.

According to the application submitted by an attorney representing Brunswick, William Haslun, “Brunswick is contemplating the purchase of the Carmel Academy property and is now seeking direction from the Planning & Zoning Commission … as to the feasibility of Brunswick’s conceptual plans.”

The proposal calls for renovating three buildings on the campus for the early childhood center, which would accommodate 150 youngsters: 50 in pre-K, 50 in kindergarten and 50 in nursery school.

Another aspect of the proposal would be to convert eight buildings on the site into faculty housing, for about 20 teachers, Haslun said, most of whom would work there. There would be “little or no change” to the exterior facades of the buildings, which are historical in nature.

Traffic has been a particular concern for neighbors, Haslun said, along with other quality-of-life issues associated with an active school. He said that through the coordination with the neighborhood association there and with the Planning & Zoning Commission, “most if not all concerns can be satisfactorily addressed.”

The application letter states that the maximum enrollment of 150 students, which Brunswich would agree to, is far less than the cap in place now for 450 students. In addition, Haslun said, there would be little to no activity after-school or on weekends on the campus.

The application says the proposed new owner would seek to continue the tradition of allowing weddings at the old chapel on the campus, mostly for neighbors.

Haslun concluded, “Brunswick believes that in addition to providing an opportunity to further Brunswick’s educational goals, this proposal would both preserve this historic campus while ameliorating many of the issues associated with its prior use.”

Brunswick currently offers prekindergarten through grade 12, and its preschool is located at 1252 King St.

The campus became the home of Rosemary Hall, an all girls school, in the early 1900s. The campus itself, which was designed in the renaissance revival style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1971, Rosemary Hall merged with Choate and moved to its campus in Wallingford.

The old chapel built in 1909, which was known as St. Bede’s Chapel, was styled in a gothic revival design. The main architect of the campus was Theodore Blake, a Greenwich resident, who also worked on the New York Public Library in New York City and the House and Senate Office Buildings in Washington, D.C.

The proposal requires a special permit and site plan approval. The application, which is preliminary, has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com