Asbestos abatement, demolition project at Trailwood Elementary School postponed

An asbestos abatement and demolition project at the old Trailwood Elementary School buidling was postponed to the end of the school year, Shawnee Mission School District officials said in a letter sent to parents.

In the letter, Shawnee Mission School District Superintendent Jim Hinson said the necessary staging areas for the demolition of the school would require the use of nearly all remaining green space at the site.

The work, Hinson wrote, would leave the school without a playground area for the remainder of the school year, a distinction Hinson said “would not be in the best interest of our students.”

The district had planned to begin an asbestos abatement in the original building Jan. 27, followed by tearing down the building to make way for a new playground, a parking lot and a front drive.

Hinson said interior abatement work will start in March during spring break instead.

“The issues expressed by parents and members of the community regarding health concerns related to demolition of the existing structure while students are attending school and the constraints posed by the logistics of the demolition have led to our decision to adjust the demolition timeline,” Hinson wrote.

The adjusted schedule means that the final phase of the project would not completed by the start of the 2017-2018 school year as originally planned, but instead should be completed prior to the end of the first semester, Hinson said.

“While we understand there is an eagerness to complete the project and the district will incur some additional cost to adjust the schedule, we must place our students’ best interest at the forefront of our decision making,” he wrote.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Asbestos abatement, demolition project at Trailwood Elementary School postponed."