The site, located behind Menlo Park and Kitty Hawk elementary schools, was most recently used as playing fields, but the land was home to a concrete company before the school took ownership of it.
On Tuesday, July 20, Brown gave school board members his assessment of the situation and asked for guidance on how to proceed. Crews halted work on the site Monday so school officials could make a decision about the $9.5 million construction project.
Brown said it would likely be much more expensive to move the site of the school than to pay to remove the rubble. He said he hopes they will only need a few more days to clear the site.
“We think we have a handle on it, but I don’t know how far down we have to go down,” Brown said. “I can’t guarantee it will be two to three days — we’re thinking it is, but there’s no guarantee.”
Architect Gary Turner said the most practical solution, if the removal becomes too expensive, would be to figure out a different foundation design.
After a short discussion, school board members instructed Brown to continue with the excavation, but told him to provide Superintendent William Kirby daily updates about the progress.
Kirby noted the bid for the construction project came in about $1.5 million below the expected cost and the district has funds available for additional costs.
“The question is: What is the best (thing) for us to do for this community?” Kirby said. “It would seem at this time we should stay the course.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0749 or cfrolik @DaytonDailyNews.com.
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