Demolition begins at Gentry school
Work making way for new intermediate school classroom facility
GENTRY — Demolition work began Friday morning in front of a crowd of school staff (past and present) and children at the Gentry Intermediate School as Tom Smith, of Red Line Construction in Lowell, used an excavator to take down a portion of the building’s front wall.
Keeta Neal, principal at the school, said it was a sad day to see the old school building go but also a happy day because of the new school facility to come for students in the third through the fifth grades.
Demolition work will continue until the building and its foundation are removed to make way for the construction of a new two-story classroom facility at the location.
A portion of the school which houses the school cafeteria, a gym and art and music classrooms — to the north of the bus tunnel — will receive a new roof and continue to be used in conjunction with the new classroom facility.
Students will use the wing buildings on the east side of the current classroom facility until the new facility is finished. Then the wing buildings, too, will be demolished and removed.
It is hoped that new construction on the site can begin before the end of summer, with a groundbreaking possibly to be held later this month.
The Gentry School Board, in June, unanimously approved a guaranteed maximum price document for the demolition work at the Gentry Intermediate School for a total of $474,837. The price included some asbestos
removal and the demolition of the current classroom facility in preparation for the construction of a new two-story classroom facility on the site. The price also includes the later demolition work on the wing buildings which will be used for classroom space while the new classroom facility is built, according to representatives of FLINTCO, construction manager for the project.
The total construction cost for the new classroom facility at the intermediate school was estimated at a little over $11 million, although bid prices could cause that to be less. Original estimates were in the $9 million range but additional classroom space was added, raising the price tag.
The district will receive assistance funding for the classroom project from Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, making it possible for the district to complete the project with the funding it now has available.