KAUZ-TV: NewsChannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TXHuey Demolition Under Way

Huey Demolition Under Way

When a school building closes down, there's a lot to account for before the demolition process begins.  Some people may be wondering what happens with everything inside the building.

Wichita Falls ISD closed down Huey Elementary School in 2008, but the demolition process only began at the beginning of this week.  Some people nearby look at the wreckage and think, "Can't we re-use the stuff inside?"

Amid the wreckage of broken bricks, demolition crew are knocking down walls and tearing up windows.  Some people, like Simon Flores, whose children attended the school, tell Newschannel 6 it was a shame to waste what was left behind.

 "There's a lot of potential in there.  a lot of good stuff that we could've salvaged out of there," he said.

But in reality, Wichita Falls Independent School District did just about all it feasibly could to save the good stuff.  Teachers and other school's got first dibs on all the things that they needed in their schools.

"Anything we thought we could use, we have pulled that and sent it out to the schools or second store surplus when that need does come up," said Janet Powell, Director of Support Services for WFISD.

The district sent furniture, blackboards, shelves, and high end electronics like the PA system to be used in other school buildings.  Dan Shelton, the district's Director of Maintenance, says the district reallocated just about everything that wasn't nailed down.  But what about the things that were, like heating and cooling systems, lavatories, lights, and fixtures?

Those things and others, like lockers and 25-year-old air conditioning units, are too big and cumbersome, not to mention expensive, to take out and relocate.

"To put them out there, to refurbish them would be very cost-prohibitive.  you know, it's gonna cost us a lot of money to do that," Powell said.  "Most of our stuff is pretty well used.  I mean the district, the schools, the teachers do a very good job of using the things they have as much as they can.  Everything we felt was something we could use we did reallocate."

The City of Wichita Falls own the plot of land.  They made an exchange with the school district when it built Scotland Park Elementary.  Part of the agreement was that WFISD had to demolish the building.  The district ended up paying thousands of dollars less than it had budgeted for the demolition.  They say that's likely because the contractor doing the job can find some value in left over materials.

Some people we talked with also asked if the district couldn't donate items to charities like Habitat For Humanity, but that would be considered a gift of public funds, which is against the law.

Spencer Blake,  Newschannel 6.