Demolition of One-Story Portion of Waukee Downtown School to Start

From the Waukee Community Schools website:

The demolition of the 1917 facility often referred to as the Old Waukee or Waukee Downtown School is scheduled to start this week.

Contractors will begin with a soft demolition. During this process they will separate the one-story portion from the three-story brick portion. The hard demolition is scheduled to start Feb. 25. During this process they will tear down and remove the entire one-story portion of the building. It is expected for demolition project to take 4-6 weeks to complete.

The Waukee school board approved the schematic design for the demolition of the single story portion of the 4th and Locust facility, along with improvements to the 1917 facility, now named the Vince Meyer Learning Center, at the Sept. 10 board meeting. These improvements will include new windows (respecting the architectural integrity of the existing building), an elevator, new lockers, and some minor HVAC adjustments.

The district updated the HVAC, fire sprinkler and electrical systems in the Vince Meyer Learning Center in 1998. Additionally, the demolition plans for the single story portion will preserve the existing gymnasium and band room and will provide for a newly constructed entrance to the facility that ties it all together.

The budget estimate for this work is $2 million and will be paid for with moneygenerated through the district Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL). There would be no additional taxes raised or required for this project.

Fifth-graders from Waukee Elementary will attend the Vince Meyer Learning Center in fall of 2013. Waukee Community School District will determine by April 15 whether to assign Eason fifth grade to Vince Meyer Learning Center. This decision will be dependent upon kindergarten numbers.