Building finally down

The H Block is finally coming down.

The two-storey Opihi College classroom block was formerly asbestos and mould-riddled and has been five years in the making, with the project sped up following the discovery of the toxic black mould Stachybotrysthere in 2016.

Work began on the demolition on Monday, following the removal of asbestos at the end of December last year.

Principal Tina Johnson said while the demolition had only just started, it seemed to be going well.

‘‘They will be completely knocking it down over the next month,’’ Johnson said.

The demolition is being done by Specialist Scope Asbestos Removals, the same company who removed the asbestos – something she believed could be an advantage.

‘‘They’re already familiar with the building,’’ she said.

Removing the asbestos had been straightforward, with a good percentage of it on the exterior’s textured panels.

However, Johnson said they had found ‘‘more asbestos than expected’’, which may have delayed the project.

‘‘They knew what was on the outside, I think, but the trouble with these buildings is you never know what there is inside, until you get inside it.’’

Demolition begins with the small single-storey part of the building, and then the second-storey later in the week.

Once complete, a base of gravel will be put down on the site ‘‘so we can use the area while we continue the design and building process,’’ she said.

The new building’s base design is complete, but needs to be verified by the design review panel before they can create the more intricate design, and then it will be onto the building stage.

‘‘It’s likely to be, I’m purely guessing, probably a year before they can start the actual build.’’

In the meantime, the school’s two relocatable buildings, each holding two classrooms, had arrived, one in the past week and the other early Monday morning. Arriving in halves, it will take six weeks before they are assembled, she said.

‘‘They will certainly take the pressure off as far as classroom spaces go.’’