Heights High's science wing is demolished

An excavator with a grapple attachment removes the east end of the science wing revealing the facade of the original 1926 building, which will be restored.

The demolition of several sections of Heights High is underway. Perhaps the most anticipated is the destruction of the circa-1962 science wing, thought by many to be an unfortunate design that obstructed the beauty of the original building.

At noon on Friday, Aug. 14, a large excavator with a grapple began removing the exterior wall of the swimming pool, at the east end of the science wing. By 1:15 p.m., the entire wall had been removed and the excavator had moved on to the Cedar Road side of the pool and then on to the science wing.

The demolition of the back of the school building began on Aug. 3 with the removal of the East Gym, kitchen and Career Tech portions of the building.

The original 1926 core section of the building will not be demolished, but will be renovated and new additions will be constructed. The design of the new additions will be more closely aligned to the historic style of the original building.

Before demolition began, the salvage crew removed many architectural elements for use in the new building, and many other items were removed to use at the temporary Heights High, on the Wiley campus in University Heights, or at other schools. These items include kitchen equipment, which has been placed in other schools; the library desk from the old building, which will be used in the main office at Wiley; and gym wall pads from the wrestling gym, which have been installed in the new gym at Wiley.

The new Heights High athletic field will be in use while demolition and construction take place at the corner of Cedar and Lee roads. Temporary modular locker rooms have been installed on the northwest side of the field. They include showers, toilets and changing areas. The lockers from the old building’s football and basketball locker rooms were removed and installed in the modular locker rooms.

Heights High students will return to a fully remodeled school building in the fall of 2017. During construction, students will attend school in the temporary Heights High on the Wiley campus.

Joy Henderson

Joy Henderson is the parent/community liaison for Heights High.

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Volume 8, Issue 9, Posted 6:07 PM, 08.17.2015