Enfield in the late 1960s was a town under pressure from its own success. Population growth of 158% during the years from 1954 to 1970 required the construction of sixteen elementary schools, two junior high schools, and two senior high schools in just sixteen years, a remarkable response to a pressing need that helped Enfield win an All-America City Award in 1970. The existing high school simply could not absorb the wave of baby boom students reaching high school age. A second campus was the only answer.
A 41-acre site for the school was purchased in February 1968 and a groundbreaking ceremony took place on September 14, 1968. Fontaine Bros. began construction on a building that, at 213,000 square feet and $6.25 million, was one of the most substantial school commissions the firm had undertaken. The design by Russell, Gibson, Von Dohlen of West Hartford produced a bold two-story campus with a compact cruciform massing anchored at the intersection of its four wings, a plan clearly visible in the archival site drawing and well suited to Enfield's residential neighborhood on North Maple Street.
Enrico Fermi High School was established in 1971 and served the Enfield community as one of the town's two high schools for 45 years, its athletic teams known as the Fermi Falcons and its rivalry with Enfield High School culminating each Thanksgiving in a football game that became one of the town's defining traditions. The school was named for the Italian-American physicist whose work on nuclear reactions helped define the atomic age, a fitting name for a building constructed at the height of American confidence in science and progress.
When enrollment eventually declined and consolidation became necessary, Fermi's closure in 2016 marked the end of a chapter that began on Fontaine Bros.' watch. The building today serves the town as the Enfield Municipal Annex. What Fontaine Bros. built in 1970 has outlasted its original purpose and found a second life serving the same community.
Client: Town of Enfield
Project Type: New Construction Architect: Russell, Gibson, Von Dohlen
