Demolition begins on two base schools

Two of the three school buildings on Mountain Home Air Force Base are in the process of being demolished.

The demolitions culminate a process that began in 2009 and was completed Oct. 12 of this year when two of the three schools there were transferred from the Mountain Home School District to the control of the Air Force, which will do the actual work to bring the buildings down.

Built originally with Department of Defense funds more than 50 years ago, a variety of factors led to the demise of the structures, which were the original Base Primary School and Stephensen Middle School. The third building in the complex of schools on base was originally known as Liberty Elementary School.

Although the land on which they sat has always been Air Force property, the building themselves belonged, until recently, to the Mountain Home School District.

In the summer of 2002, a heavy wind and rain storm damaged the roof at the Base Primary School. Water leaked into the walls, creating a potential problem with mold and mildew. Although insurance covered the roof, it didn't cover the cost of repairing all the walls and the school district didn't have the extra million dollars it would have needed to put the school back into shape. As a result, the district began the first of a series of moves involving reallocating students to other buildings.

Originally, Base Primary handled students in grades K-3, Liberty Elementary handled those in grades 4-5 and Stephensen served as the middle school for the base, with grades 6-7.

But the damage to the original Base Primary forced the district to move those students to Liberty, renaming it Base Primary in the process, to move the Liberty students to the Stephensen building, renaming it Liberty Elementary in the process, and to bus the students from Stephensen into town.

Then, in 2006, due to declining enrollment on base, the district closed Liberty (the old Stephensen), bused all except grades K-4 into town, and merged the remaining Liberty students into the Base Primary (which was the original Liberty Elementary -- just to keep things straight).

Shortly thereafter, the state legislature began a series of cuts in state funding, and the voters eventually rejected a longstanding levy that would have been used for maintenance of the district's buildings. With declining revenue, the district wasn't able to properly maintain the unused buildings on base, and they began falling into an increasing state of disrepair.

"We tried to save the old Stephensen as long as we could," Supt. Tim McMurtrey said.

When the base had to rebuild the building that housed the post office there, the district let the base use the old Stephensen for the temporary post office. "But," McMurtrey said, "the roof (on the old Stephensen) was failing even then."

"I knew we had to demolish them, but we didn't have the money to do it. And the base wanted them demolished," he added. "They were an eyeseore. Kids were breaking into (the deserted buildings) and they were a safety hazard. It was driving the security police crazy."

So, in 2009, base and school district officials sat down with Sen. Jim Risch's staff to discuss the problem and see if any funding could be made available to handle the demolition of the buildings.

"Today, you can't just bulldoze something to the ground," McMurtrey explained. "All the asbestos has to be removed, along with the plumbing and wiring. It's a complicated job to tear down an old building."

In 2010, a military task force assessed the condition of the buildings. The old base primary was the worst. It was found to be "unstable" and the report said remodeling costs would exceed the value of the structure. It also said that the original Stephensen was "in immediate need of repair."

But the district didn't have the money to fix them.

In the middle of all that, the lease ran out on the land the buildings were on. "We had to renegotiate the lease, and all that had to go through legal," which took time, McMurtrey said.

"The base could have ordered us to tear them down, but instead, they said they'd try and work the issue through the Pentagon, which is why we needed Risch and some special funding."

But with the budget battles in Congress, it wasn't until this year that funding was made available. Approval to demolish the buildings was received in August, but the money wasn't released until October.

At that point, the base took jurisdiction of the buildings on Oct. 12.

"They've been really good to work with," said McMurtrey, who praised in particular the efforts of Lt. Col. Steven Griswold, commander of the base's Mission Support Group. "They understood our problems. It benefits both of us, but they didn't have to do this. They were trying to be good stewards to the community."

With the authorization and appropriation in hand, the base moved quickly to begin demolishing the original Base Primary and Stephensen Middle School.

That will leave just the original Liberty Elementary, which today is officially Base Primary School.

But McMurtrey wants to change the name. "I don't want the name Stephensen to go away," he said. The original middle school was named after Mark Stephenson, a pilot from the base that was shot down in Vietnam in 1967. Listed for years as an MIA, his remains were not found and returned home until 1988.

"I want that name to continue, to be found on base," McMurtrey said, indicating he will, in the near future, ask the school board for permission to make the name change.