Allen School Slated for Demolition Soon

The former Allen Elementary School will start coming down in September, three years after the building closed.

Business Manager Mark Donnelly said he believes crews will start removing asbestos from the school shortly after Labor Day, followed by demolition of the structure itself.

"Probably they'll get started by the end of the first week in September," he said.

The Strongsville school district has hired Sitetech Inc. to handle the project. Donnelly said the first step, a $21,700 pre-design plan on how to remove the asbestos and dispose of the razed material, has been completed.

The district will pay up to $425,000 for the actual demolition.

"The number could come in lower than that," Donnelly said.

Once the building is gone, the land will be graded, planted with grass and opened up for youth football practices.

The district will lose a football field behind Center Middle School as work on the new middle school starts.

The Allen project is part of an ongoing overhaul of Strongsville school buildings, funded by an $81 million voter-approved bond issue.

Other parts of the plan are also under way. Donnelly said renovations are nearly complete at the Strongsville Early Learning Preschool, and the roof at the bus garage has been replaced.

Plans are also moving forward on the two major parts of the plan — construction of a new middle school on the Center Middle School site and major renovations at Strongsville High School.