“Why don’t they just tear it down?”

As McIntosh Heritage and Arts Center moves toward raising the funds to reroof the old McIntosh School the question sometimes arises “Why don’t they just tear it down?” The comment is often made as though this is the only practical solution and it seems to be assumed that this would be a zero cost option. Board member Lee Narum decided to investigate this question in order to deal practically and in an informed way when this comment is made. Below is part of a letter written to the McIntosh Heritage and Arts Center Board on the findings of this possibility. 

One of the options presented for the future of the old school in McIntosh is demolition. This is often the only viable solution to old buildings if they are in poor shape. Lee visited over the phone with Florian and Sons excavating of Grand Forks and found some information on building    demolition. Before demo begins all the hazardous material would need to be removed, mainly asbestos and lead paint. We know asbestos mitigation will cost approximately $20,000. We have learned that the asbestos present is in limited access spaces. This means that if we want to use the building without removing asbestos we can seal off these spaces so there is no public access and leave the asbestos in place. The cost of removing all the lead paint is unknown but is expected to be equally costly but can also be left in place and painted over if the building remains in use.

In addition to demo costs all the material would be required to be trucked to a designated landfill such as the one at Gentilly. The representative at Florian stated the on average dumping fee runs about $8 per square foot per floor of building, the school is 36,000 square feet - or in our case about $240,000 plus trucking on top of that. This is the expense without the addition of the demolition contractors.

Once demolition costs are added the total will run somewhere over $400,000, very similar to the Wayne Hotel in Crookston, a smaller building, which cost over $300,000 to demo.

Of course, McIntosh Heritage and Arts Center would not choose demolition, we had no intention of accepting the donation of the old school for the purpose of demolishing it. Our intention is to rehabilitate the school to be used as a multi-purpose building with historical preservation, research and storage facilities as well as art studios and classes, gathering and community spaces as well as a revenue generating thrift store. Once MHAC is able to occupy the space, even in limited capacity MHAC then qualifies for low interest loans and grants that assist non-profit entities. The building can be divided into usable spaces that could easily be maintained while continuing to raise revenue to rehabilitate more sections of the building. But a new roof needs to be in place first.

For those who feel that the option of “just tearing it down” is preferable. The reality is that this option probably wouldn’t happen. If the property were forfeited for taxes or in this case the road, water, and sewer assessment, those would then have to be paid by the rest of the property owners in McIntosh. The demolition of the building (should the county decide to spend that kind of money) would be paid by your county property taxes. Most likely the county would leave it to sit abandoned and continue to deteriorate indefinitely. It seems the folks making that statement “why don’t they just tear it down” are unaware that this would be the outcome because the question would be…Who wants to pay out $400,000 and have nothing to show for it? 

Luckily, this building is not beyond repair. The engineering evaluation of the building done in 2012 stated that the structure is sound and if a roof is installed in the next three to five years the building will remain sound. The challenge is time-which is not on our side-the building has withstood many years of water damage. However, if the roof is not replaced soon and the water damage continues-the building will not be able to be saved ….by anyone. 

The old school’s ability to maintain its structural integrity for much longer is coming to an end. MHAC attempted a temporary solution of tarps on the roof with no success. We have decided to pursue a much more practical option of a steel roof. The materials estimate for a new steel roof will cost under $25,000 if volunteer labor is secured. 

The plan and hope of McIntosh Heritage and Arts Center is to raise $25,000 combined with volunteer labor to preserve a structure that can be remodeled and reused for the rest of this century rather than walk away and drop a potentially half a million dollar mess on the taxpayers of McIntosh and Polk County.