Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

Belle Valley starts demolishing school damaged by mine collapse

Wing contained classrooms, cafeteria

BELLEVILLE -- Crews were preparing Tuesday for the demolition of a wing at Belle Valley North Elementary School.

"It will be a very visible example of how real and how drastic the changes for the district will be," said Kyle Freeman, whose term as superintendent of Belle Valley District 119 began July 1. "The good news is change can be a very positive thing."

The school board decided to demolish the wing last month because it had sustained the most damage from mine subsidence caused by the collapse of the defunct Ell-Rich Coal Mine about 150 feet underground.

The estimated demolition cost is $70,000 to $75,000, compared with the estimated $125,000 it would cost to repair the damage.

Gaines Smith, board vice president and building committee chairman, said demolition is expected to begin at the end of the week or early next week, and it should last about two weeks.

Workers on Tuesday disconnected all the wiring to the wing known as the 1987 addition and sealed off the wing from the rest of the building with concrete.

The wing houses classrooms, a teachers' lounge and the school's cafeteria. Damage to the wing includes severe cracks in the walls and floors, which Smith said are developing or worsening quickly and constantly. The roof of the wing "levitates" above the sinking building as the walls shift and pull away from the rest of the building.

Freeman proposed the idea of disconnecting the wing from the rest of the building and demolishing it in hopes of alleviating the remainder of the building from the stress caused by that wing pulling on it.

Classrooms in the wing already had been closed. To adjust to the space lost with the demolition, students will eat lunch in their classrooms, and some classes will become mobile while others will relocate to vacant spaces in the building. Specialized classes with fewer students, such as reading groups and special education classes, will share learning spaces.

Freeman and Smith said the district hopes to be able to house students in the building for another two years while it finishes construction of a new building to replace its sinking elementary school and its middle school buildings, which need about $10 million in repairs.

Voters on April 7 approved a $39.5 million bond issue to cover construction and equipping costs, the razing of the elementary building and refinancing of old debt. The building will be located on a 44-acre plot of land off Green Mount Road and Amann Drive, for which the district paid nearly $1 million in 2006.

Freeman and Smith said should Belle Valley North not be able to hold up another two years, the district will have to look at setting up mobile classrooms.

"We've been really lucky," Smith said. "We just hope our luck doesn't run out."