Demolition of the Rippey school building has been delayed at virtually every step of the project, but the East Greene board of education may yet meet its goal of having the building razed before the board dissolves June 30.
Building and grounds director Shawn DeMoss told the board at its regular meeting May 21 that asbestos removal is complete. The final cost of removal was $97,400, just 2 percent more than was originally budgeted two years ago.
Final cost was $1,800 more than the original bid because Environmental Services of Iowa ended up painting over every floor where asbestos was removed as an interim step to seal surfaces until demolition. DeMoss said the company sprayed between 100 and 125 gallons of mismatched salvage paint. “It’s not anything pretty,” DeMoss told the board.
Lansing Brothers will begin demolition of the building sometime in June. DeMoss said that once demo begins the job will go quickly, probably taking only a week.
The district has received up to $21,000 in grant funds from the Department of Natural Resources contingent on Lansing Brothers diverting building materials from landfills. If 30 percent is diverted the district will receive between $14,000 and $15,000 in state funds, superintendent Tim Christensen said. If 70 percent of the materials (by weight) are diverted, the district will receive the maximum of $21,000. Total cost of the demolition was bid at $111,000.
The demolition is being paid for by East Greene funds held onto for that purpose when the renovation was done on the Grand Junction building two years ago.
“It will be nice to have closure on it,” EG board president Marc Hoffman said about the building demo.
The board also discussed how best to honor Bill and Maybelle Wisecup for the $250,000 donation they made to the school in their will. After discussion, Christensen was asked to get a price for a raised bronze plaque (similar to those recently placed around the courthouse square in Jefferson). Hoffman asked Christensen to get “something decent,” as “it’s more than just a small donation” the Wisecups made.
The plaque will read “William J. & Maybelle I. Wisecup Memorial Gym” and will be placed directly opposite the entrance to the gymnasium in Rippey.
DeMoss told the board he is building a new trophy case for the Grand Junction building that will hold all the East Greene trophies now in Rippey. The vintage trophies won by Rippey teams before the formation of the East Greene district are already in storage.
