Demolition work begins on last part of burned campus

TALKEETNA — Heavy equipment tore into a concrete and cinderblock remains of the former Su Valley Jr./Sr. High building Monday to make way for a new campus designers say will have a more flexible floor plan and more usable space than the old school.

Consulting architect Amy Yurko said an Oct. 18 community meeting at the temporary campus will cap a marathon day of focus groups. The gathering will feature concepts posed in staff and student workshops and at the first community design meeting held Sept. 18.

“We will bring back some diagrams,” Yurko said. “Everything will be more refined than the last meeting.”

Design is proceeding on a fast track with Anchorage-based project architect Michael Carlson of McCool, Carlson Green planning to show the Borough’s Building Design Committee a plan and an exterior design proposal by Oct. 30. The firm hopes to have school district and Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly approval before the end of December so it can break ground June 2008. The school is scheduled to open in August 2009.

Yurko said planners will meet with students on campus to get their ideas for what should go into the campus before having a meeting 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 18 in the main building, formerly the Upper Susitna Senior Center, near Mile 98 of the Parks Highway. The next meeting will be in November.

Across the street at the old campus the dust is flying — but not the asbestos.

Borough Project Manager Bud Lovel said a large backhoe began peeling away the more than 30-year-old slab that once supported the wooden classroom wings and main high school building that burned June 5. Ducts containing asbestos are buried beneath the old foundation. Although air monitoring equipment is in place, Lovel said the asbestos is below and will be removed safely after the main demolition. The job, carried out by Alaska Demolition, should be done by Friday.

The area is off limits to all but the demolition crew, Lovel said. He sent Su Valley Principal Matt Clark a letter recently asking students and school staff be kept completely away from the asphalt area surrounding the old foundation due to possible dust and flying debris.

Students have been using athletic fields and cross country trails at the old campus, and the track and field shed that did not burn. The fields are not next to the demolition area, but are located behind the old foundation.

In his letter to Clark, Lovel says the school might still use some trails or playing fields, but those would have to be accessed by a route that is separate from the construction zone. “It is my preference that for the week that the demolition is in progress, all activities in the area be halted and no traffic go into the area or the play fields beyond.”

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.