ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Demolition work has started at an Alaska school that was condemned after an architectural inspection found substantial earthquake damage.
Houston Middle School in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough community of Big Lake was damaged in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that shook the region in 2018, Alaska’s News Source reported Monday.
“Classrooms were destroyed, foundations were cracked, walls were cracked,” Principal Ben Howard said. “So we couldn’t go back to school after what happened with the earthquake.”
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board initially approved plans to rebuild parts of the school, including the gym and administrative wing. But another inspection found additional, severe damage.
Repairs would only bring the school within 60% of building code requirements, the borough determined.
The facility constructed in 1985 became a gathering place for residents in the town about 64 miles (103 kilometers) from Anchorage, in addition to serving as a school, Howard said.
“I’ve been there for eight years and it’s a community structure,” Howard said. “There have been a lot of different events that have happened at this school.”
The demolition work should last about 30 days before crews begin rebuilding the school, Howard said.
The estimated cost to raze and replace the building is about $35 million, with a new school expected to open by the fall of 2022.
There are many Houston graduates and leveling the building has “a lot of emotion tied to it,” Houston said.
“But we’re ready to look to the future and this is the day we’ve been waiting for,” Houston said.
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