(HELENA) The Helena School District has started demolishing the current Bryant Elementary School building, several days ahead of schedule.
Heavy equipment was on scene Friday morning to begin tearing down the school, which was built about 80 years ago.
District leaders had expected to start demolition next week, after crews finished asbestos mitigation work. Kalli Kind, the district’s director of support services, said that work wrapped up several days earlier than expected. She said they could have started tearing Bryant down on Thursday, but they waited a day so the contractor could finish the main excavation work at Jim Darcy Elementary, then move the equipment down.
Bryant, Central and Jim Darcy are all set to move into brand-new facilities in August. The district is building the new school buildings with money from a $63 million bond voters approved in 2017.
Bryant and Jim Darcy had to be torn down quickly after the school year ended, because their sites will be used as playground space.
Kind said Bryant will likely take longer to fully demolish than Jim Darcy because of its different construction style. She said the major work will likely last just over a week.
-Reported by Jonathon Ambarian/MTN News
