Big Hollow to demolish old school buildings

FOX LAKE – The former Big Hollow Primary School and Edmond Taveirne Middle School will be torn down following the condemnation of the buildings by the village of Fox Lake, officials said.

At a special meeting Nov. 3, the Big Hollow School District 38 Board of Education awarded a bid of $284,800 to Eagle Biomass Inc. of McHenry to demolish the buildings, school board president Vicki Gallichio said.

The bid from Eagle Biomass was the lowest responsible bid of the 12 that were submitted, she said.

The buildings have sat vacant at the corner of Routes 12 and 134 since the district moved students and staff into new schools in 2006. The district is hopeful they will be demolished before the end of the year, Gallichio said.

Both buildings were condemned after they were found to be unsafe and unfit for human occupancy following inspections this summer, Fox Lake building commissioner Frank Urbina said.

In a letter to Superintendent Ronald Pazanin dated July 30 that was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Urbina expressed concern about possible structural failure at the former Big Hollow Primary School due to water saturation on the roof.

Urbina also cited the presence of a sewage-type odor, standing water, mold, broken glass, collapsed ceilings, pealing paint and a leaking roof in the letter. Asbestos also may be present and exposed in the building, he wrote.

“It looked like a tornado came through there,” Urbina said. “You had to balance yourself [because] there was so much water in the hallways.”

Pazanin did not immediately return calls for comment.

Urbina also indicated in the letter that police records showed numerous break-ins and vandalism had occurred at the school, and that homeless inhabitants had been living in the building.

Break-ins had mostly occurred through the roof of the building, he said in an interview.

“You could tell kids had been in there partying,” Urbina said. “I’m surprised no one had gotten hurt.”

Prior to the village condemning the buildings, the district had already begun discussions about demolishing the former schools, Gallichio said. She was not aware of the level of vandalism that had occurred at Big Hollow Primary School before it was condemned, she said.

“We knew there was some asbestos in that building, and that is why we began discussions [about] demolishing the buildings,” she said.

Since it was put on the market, the district has asked for $5 million for the 12-acre property. Gallichio is hopeful that demolishing the buildings may help with the sale of the property.

“I hope it would make it more of a prime piece of a real estate,” she said.

Usable items in the primary school building were stored at the middle school gymnasium when the district moved out of the buildings in 2006, Gallichio said.

The district plans to sell any items it cannot use in its current facilities, she said.