(Lake Park)– Meeting in special session, the Harris-Lake Park School Board this (Tues.) afternoon approved specifications and bid documents for the demolition of the old elementary school in Lake Park. Superintendent Mike Thompson…
“And essentially next steps for us will be asbestos abatement which is happening here in a few weeks. There is still some asbestos in the building that will have to get removed prior to demolition can begin. Then once that’s complete, on or about the same time that wraps up the bids for demolition will come in at about the same time so we’ll know, I would say about the first part of December, who won the bid for demolition itself and then depending on the contractor’s own timelines our assumption would be demolition would start on or about the middle of December or possibly after the first of the year.”
Thompson says the goal is to have the demolition and seeding of the site completed by May 14th, 2027. He says the land will then be transferred to the city…
“Through a land agreement that we have with the city of Lake Park, all of that property will go to the city and their plans, my understanding, they are currently working with a developer and that will be either single family or multi family housing.”
Thompson adds the funds the school district is using for the demolition have already been budgeted for that specific purpose…
“The dollars that we’re using for demolition, we’re actually borrowing sales tax dollars which was part of the original strategy from the beginning, but yes, that was included in that. We’re hoping, we sort of have a number in mind as to what we’re hoping that comes in for, but the cost of everything these days seems to be going up so we’ll see ultimately what that bid is then any dollars that we had set aside left over will most likely be reinvested in the middle school/high school.”
Meanwhile, Thompson says the district still has some furnishings and equipment in the old building. He says some of the items were purchased during a public sale this past Saturday…
“Anyone that purchased anything will have a week to get that out, so we’ll see what we have left here at the end of the week, but we were pleased with the amount of stuff that walked out that day. And you still have some items over there yet? We do. The plan will be, we’ll see what’s left here at the end of the week and then we’ll work with our board to come up with a plan as to what to do with the rest of it, but we want to avoid having to take anything to the landfill if possible. There probably will be one more opportunity for our community to come in either with a freewill donation to see what’s left and to see what they could use.”
Anyone wanting more information on that should contact the Harris-Lake Park Community Schools administrative office.
