As the Recovery and Development Agency works to complete four new buildings on the main campus at Elmore Stoutt High School, it signed a contract for demolition of the temporary Pasea classrooms that housed ESHS students starting after Hurricane Irma and continuing until the end of last school year.
In conjunction with the government, the RDA awarded a $97,359 contract for demolition at the former Clarence Thomas Limited Building to Construction and Engineering Systems (BVI) Limited on Oct. 3, the agency announced.
The project will return the building to its original configuration and remove equipment and infrastructure that facilitated the students, the RDA stated.
The scope of works includes the removal of lights, power outlets, doors, frames, acoustic ceilings, emergency lights, signage, partitions and the data network, which all formed part of the teaching environment.
After the storms
Following hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, the Ministry of Education resumed classes by Oct. 5, 2017, in part by constructing temporary classrooms at the building to facilitate a shift system.
Thirty-five classrooms were constructed using lumber to separate each room. Also included were a teacher’s lounge, an administrative area, a conference room, a radio station, and a principal’s office with a waiting room and kitchenette.
The RDA upgraded the temporary school in 2020 by installing improved air-conditioning, lighting, and soundproofing.
The agency did not project a completion date for the new buildings at the main ESHS campus, which initially were scheduled to be open last month.