It was not an April Fool’s Day joke when demolition began on the old elementary school on April 1.  In just two days, the entire school building, the ag/alternative school building, and the T&I/bus shop were reduced to a huge pile of rubble.  According to the demolition crew, knocking down the buildings is the easy part; hauling off the debris will take 3-4 weeks.

According to Superintendent Jon Abrams, the buildings went through thorough asbestos abatement procedures carried out by abatement experts prior to demolition. Asbestos abatement took over six weeks so that the buildings were safe to demolish without allowing any asbestos dust to infiltrate the air. The School District followed the very strict laws that govern the removal of asbestos prior to a building being demolished. The asbestos removal had to be certified by State inspectors before demolition could begin. Therefore, there was no danger of school students or the general public being exposed to asbestos. The asbestos was long gone before demolition began.

Two giant power shovels were used to knock down the walls of the 70-year-old school.  Beginning on the cafeteria end, the long side of the building, where most of the classrooms were located, came down first.  According to Superintendent Abrams, when the power shovel knocked down the middle beam of the auditorium roof, that whole part of the building collapsed at once, demonstrating what might have happened had a bad earthquake hit. The last part of the school to come down was the south brick wall near the school office; that part of the building took more effort to knock down.

After the school was demolished, the demolition crew attacked the 100-year-old ag building/alternative school and the old T&I building/bus garage, which did not take long to reduce to piles of rubble.

Once all the debris has been hauled away, construction will begin on the parking lot and playground that will be where the old building was. The public and staff will appreciate having more parking available, and students will enjoy a new, modern playground instead of having to play on the old football field during recess. 

Landscaping around the building will continue and will eventually include a small memorial area where the lintel above the old high school door will be mounted as well as monuments to the elementary school building and the two other school buildings that preceded the new elementary school on Malad’s “school block.”