Old EC-P school takes a tumble

By Barry Porterfield
Staff Writer

July 25, 2008 12:21 pm

— The old came tumbling down as a big chunk of an aging Elmore City-Pernell school is being torn down this week.
It’s only been a matter of time before one of two parts at the decades old EC-P Elementary School went away because of some problems that simply were not going away, said school Superintendent Jim Smith.
Work continued this week to take down the one wing of the building as the school has made the transition to using only a new elementary school opened last year and the other part of the old facility.
“The structure is fairly sound, but the plumbing is in bad shape,” Smith said about the portion coming down.
“This is all because of the plumbing. We hated to do it because it was a pretty good building other than that. Last year we had to shut off the boys restroom. We had to shut the door and not allow anyone to use it.,” he said.
“It would have required a major effort to repair it.”
The building itself was constructed about 60 years ago, Smith added.
The one wing of the old school coming down did have eight classrooms and other more general rooms.
Staying in place for use by EC-P students and educators is another side to the old building that contains six classrooms and a cafeteria.
This week’s demolition was made possible when Elmore voters passed a bond issue back in 2005.
A main push for the bonding was due to the poor condition of the elementary building’s plumbing.
The first phase of that bond issue was the construction of a brand new elementary school.
The new facility, located right next to the old one, opened in January 2007 with a formal dedication coming the following month.
As for today, Smith said there is still some uncertainty over what school officials should do with the area where the old building once stood.
“Right now we’re not sure what to do with that area, maybe turn it into an outdoor area with tables for students,” he said.
Other future plans are to take the school’s existing playground and turn it into a parking lot. A new playground is planned on the south side of the school.