Houston Middle School demolition underway

HOUSTON — More than two years since it last held students on the morning of Nov. 30, 2018, Houston Middle School is being demolished. After a couple years of planning, the 95% design approval for the new HMS building was presented to the Mat-Su Borough School Board last week and the Mat-Su Borough Assembly heard an update on the project finances. The assembly and school board will meet on Tuesday in a joint meeting to discuss the HMS demolition, among other topics.

“We are still working with insurance for a final number on our second layer of insurance on this project and we will be working with FEMA to try and finalize this project with FEMA but right now what we have in hand is $23.3 million,” said Mat-Su Borough Finance Director Cheyenne Heindel.

Just over $27 million has been allocated on the project but nearly $4 million in design work and committed demolition costs were subtracted from the available funds for the rebuilt school that was damaged in the Magnitude 7.1 earthquake in 2018. Borough Project Management Division Manager Jeff Walden presented details on the cost estimate to the assembly and allowed structural engineer Amy Mestas to detail the feasibility of the current school site for the new building, set to begin construction next year and open to students for the 2022 school year.

“The geotechnical report indicated that the soils were actually very good for suitability for large earthquakes. That was consistent with what we found on the site there was no evidence of ground failures, no fissures, no settlements to be observed. The foundation looked in good condition so what we did see was a lot of damage to the building. However, that damage was due to the type of construction at the time of construction in ‘84,” said Mestas. “Those are the main reasons leading up to the failures. We didn’t see any evidence that it was a problem with the site or the soil.”

Due to the stacked bond concrete masonry units, a combination of wood diaphragms and a steel superstructure, the three elements of the school moved independently during the massive earthquake. The Assembly approved a condemnation of the building in September, which had previously begun design work for a plan to repair the administrative wing and gymnasium, but completely demolish and rebuild the academic wing.

“The design team continued to find more and more issues and that repairing the building would cost more than building new and could only meet 62% of current building code at this time we hired a professional cost estimator who provided a cost estimate of approximately $35 million and we knew that number was continually going up because we’re continuing to find issues in the building,” said Walden.

The gap between the estimate of the $35.2 million that it will cost and the $23.3 million saved for the project could be shortened by FEMA’s determination on the 50% rule. Walden said that he had communication from FEMA that their long awaited decision would arrive in time to put the bid out to contractors in February of next year. Assemblyman George McKee inquired if the Borough could request a warranty on the building, which Assemblyman Rob Yundt warned would only increase the price.

When the earthquake struck in 2018, 383 students who had taken classes at HMS moved across the parking lot to the Houston High School building for the spring semester, where they have stayed for the last two years. The Borough and school district moved quickly to relocate 13 portable classrooms that have housed middle school classrooms around what is now Houston Jr./Sr. High School and brought the Houston school community together. On Wednesday, School Board Member Jeff Taylor thanked Walden for including members of the Houston community in discussions about building design. Walden alerted the school board that nearly every salvageable material from the old building would not go to waste. Flagpoles and other school materials will be refurbished and repurposed for the new building along with logos and artwork from the old building. Nonprofits were allowed to enter the building to salvage old textbooks and chairs.

“It is kind of frustrating, I know, for our students out in Houston and that area that the school is not up and ready to go yet, but it takes lot of time and to do this right and to have this building ready for 30 to 40 years into the future,” said Mayor Vern Halter. “I think we need to take our time right now in engineering and design and of course the funding is always one of the fundamental things.”