Asbestos abatement at the former Colfax Upper Elementary School in Springdale started this week, said Jan Zastawniak, Allegheny Valley School District spokeswoman.
Permits have been secured, and a plan is in place to complete the demolition after abatement, Zastawniak said.
Architect Toni Canzian said the project is going according to schedule and contractors from Kane Specialty Group have removed about 40,000 square feet of asbestos floor tile from the west side of the building.
Abatement is expected to take a little more than a month. Allegheny County officials will be on site at various times, and AGX Inc., an environmental consulting group, has a lab on site to perform air quality testing.
“The contractor is doing his job to AGX standards,” Canzian said.
Pine-based Kane Specialty Group is completing the work under a $404,000 demolition contract the school board approved in October. Kane has an April 10 deadline to complete the work.
Zastawniak said demolition will begin within the next two months, with work to be performed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Demolition will begin at the building’s administration and library wing addition, she said, which includes the connecting corridor.
Then, crews will demolish the cafeteria wing and other additions. The original structure, dating to 1925, will be the last part to be demolished, Zastawniak said.
Basement backfilling will start once slabs and footers are removed.
Some dust and noise will be noticeable but will have a “minimal impact” on the community, Zastawniak said. During abatement, neighbors could see additional areas of the building cordoned off for safety.
Extra fencing around the school may also be added for safety.
Colfax Upper Elementary School was built in 1925 and renovated in 1971 to make way for expanded classes and additional students. A district realignment in the late 1980s had the school hosting fourth, fifth and sixth grade students.
Declining enrollment in recent years led the school board to close the building in 2015, moving Colfax students to Acmetonia Elementary School in Harmar.
The board in 2022 approved the school’s demolition. After architectural review, a plan was made to raze the building.
