John Hyland Construction has tentatively started demolishing Sweet Home High School as asbestos removal continues.
Mike Mueller, senior project manager, said the asbestos removal will probably take another week to the end of the month.
“In this case its mostly floor tiling and a little ceiling tiling,” Mueller said. The work is done by specially trained crews. Contractor on the job is Performance Abatement Services.
Workers have started knocking down parts of the old structure at the west end of the high school.
“It’s just exploratory surgery,” Mueller said. Demolition will begin in earnest after asbestos removal.
“We were hoping to be done this week,” Mueller said. “But they found more.”
Hyland Construction, the general contractor for the project, will use excavators to pull the high school down little pieces at a time then haul it away.
Hyland Construction was the low bidder for the project at a little more than $7 million. The project is part of an $18.6 million bond approved by Sweet Home area voters two years ago.
The project includes the demolition of the administrative offices, the Career Center, counseling, the cafeteria, the main gym and the east and north hallways.
Classrooms in the south wing and the east wing are planned for remodeling and use next school year.
A new library will be built about where the main gym is located. A couple of new high-tech classrooms will be attached to the library.
On the west end will be a commons with the student store and cafeteria. Administrative offices will flank a central entryway.
On the east end of the north hall, Linn-Benton Community College will build a new Sweet Home Center.
The Gateway credit retrieval program will shae space with the Career Center in a modular building moved from Hawthorne Elementary. Health classes will be held in he drafting area.
The school has enough classrooms to function, Principal Pat Stineff said, though one English teacher will float to different rooms each priod.