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Idaho Enterprise

School Demolition Underway

After months of anticipation, the demolition of the old Malad School Building and gym is has finally begun.  Over the last year plus, the extensive project required to remove the asbestos in the structure in order to allow the demolition to move forward was completed.  The gym floor was sold off to defray some of the costs of the project.  

On Monday, the heavy machinery finally moved in and began the process of knocking the hundred year old building down so that it can be removed.  Bricks from the high school are being made available to those interested in keeping a piece of memorabilia from what for a long time was the centerpiece of life in town for Malad’s teenagers.

The high school was constructed in 1921 to serve the students in the Malad Valley.  The school was added on to and remodeled over the ensuing decades, until the need for a larger, updated school was finally urgent enough to begin construction on the current high school in 1980.  The first graduating class from the new school received their degrees in 1982.

The school facilities have been used for a number of activities since its official close, though primarily only the gym section, which was used for various sports practices and elementary events.  

The area on which the rapidly disappearing high school sits is planned to become part of the footprint of the new elementary.  Designs for the new school are still under review, so it’s unclear precisely what will eventually be built on the location, but it’s certain at this point that the land which has been tied to education for so long will continue in that tradition.

Bricks from the old high school are available on the southwest corner of the construction site.