Demolition of Old Junior High School Lags Behind City's Expectations

Completion of demolition is still expected to take weeks.

Demolition of the old junior high school on Pine Street has slowed down beyond the expectations of city officials.

Henley Construction of Harrison was awarded the bid for demolition late last summer and was contracted to have it completed by December 22^nd, 2021. As of Monday afternoon, much of the structure has been demolished but a significant portion still stands, and Harrison Operations Director Wade Phillips said completion is still a few weeks away.

The initial contract with Henley construction was for $230,000 with a penalty of $500 per day for each day, after December 22^nd, the project is not complete. Phillips said that the contractor has the right to ask for additional days to be added to their contract but they have not done so to this point.

Phillips doesn’t think weather has had a major effect on demolition. He says, “In my opinion I don’t think it’s been an impact of weather, I think they’ve just not progressed as quickly as they could have.”

Phillips said he has not met with Henley Construction this week to see where they stand. He said the city’s goal is to get a geo-tech crew in to do soil boring for foundation design of the Creekside Community Center sometime in January.

A call to Henley Construction for comment was attempted but the phone number listed online has been disconnected.