R-2 eyeing demolition

By C-T Photo/Laura Schuler

The old Chillicothe High School is coming down, brick by brick, and while work has been ongoing at the site since the end of May, much work still needs to be done before the first bell of the 2009-10 school year rings on Aug. 19. Chillicothe R-2 officials say they’ve made changes to the Chillicothe Middle School schedule to reduce student and staff traffic flow between buildings. They’ve also said utility and communications between all buildings should be up and running within the next two weeks.

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By Laura Schuler

Constitution-Tribune

Wed Jul 29, 2009, 01:56 PM CDT

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Chillicothe, Mo. -

There’s just 21 days before the first day of the 2009-10 school year and Chillicothe R-2 School District Assistant Superintendent Wade Schroeder has one eye on the ongoing demolition project at the middle school and the other on the school calendar.

“The demolition contractor feels like he’s been on time,” Schroeder said in an interview yesterday (Tuesday). However, he said the district is developing a plan of action if the razing of the old high school building (located between the east and west wings of the middle school) is still ongoing once school starts.

Representatives from the contracted demolition company — Red Rock CDT, Inc. — have predicted the old high school will be leveled by Aug. 1. Once that happens, according to Schroeder, the rubble will be carted away — a process which should make the scope of the project smaller by the day.

“They’ve (the company) said they’ve found more metal in the building than they were expecting, which might have slowed them down a little,” said Schroeder. However, he said that the contractor has also found “tremendous” weak spots in the building — areas where the structure has simply crumbled — which has aided the razing project.

The assistant superintendent said the district will be using orange snow fencing to keep students from project areas. He noted that the district has been working closely with the city’s zoning enforcement officer Gil Gates, in determining where the fences will need to be located.

“The district’s primary concern is for the safety of the kids and offering them as good of a learning environment as possible,” Schroeder said.

The contract between the district states that if the project is not completed — with the site ready to plant grass by Aug. 15, the company will be assessed a $500 a day fine.

But, to say there will be no disruptions in the regular middle school day, he said, is unrealistic. “Hopefully,” he said, “the disruptions will be kept down to a minimum.”

To that end, district officials and CMS administrators have examined the class schedule and made numerous modifications in an effort to keep the student traffic flow outside the learning cottage, and the middle school’s east and west wings to a minimum.........