FAYETTEVILLE -- Renovation to the crumbling stone facade at Fayetteville High School is set to begin this week, the School District's director of physical plant services said.
David Tate said Nabholz Construction will remove stones on the south building, which has the most noticeable damage, facing Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Stones started falling off several places in fall 2015 during the last part of the high school expansion. The real problems began during a storm in early spring 2017 with some stone falling off the southwest end where the gymnasium is located, Tate said.
"So we put up a temporary wooden wall," over Thanksgiving break, he said. "It was just precautionary."
Nabholz was the general contractor for the construction and renovation of the high school and is paying for all the renovations, Tate said.
Greg Fogle, Nabholz chief operating officer, said the final costs have yet to be determined, but it will be at least $500,000.
The company will replace all of the stones with similar ones using a different system not available when the facade was installed, Fogle said. The new system includes different mortar and a moisture barrier, which gives any moisture that gets in to escape and not be trapped behind the wall.
The issue at the school is happening across the country with similar stonework, Fogle said.
"We don't want the school to worry about maintenance in the future," he said.
The work will be done in four phases lasting to 2019, Tate said, though when next year will heavily depend on weather. Fogle said they hope to have it finished by fall 2019.
"It's just one of those flukes that happened, and luckily we have great contractors that are stepping up and taking care of it for us," Tate said.
Work will move to the west side of the south building, then the east end and to the north building after the contractors finish the first phase.
"It shouldn't interfere with school much," Tate said. "They have tried to phase this where they are out of the way. We're not sure yet if they will be working during school. It just depends on how fast it goes."
Katie Jackson, an FHS Band Booster parent, said she wasn't aware that any bricks had fallen near the band room but is glad the facade is getting fixed.
"I know the School District is working to fix the falling brick problem. It will take time, but I trust that the new installation will be better," she said.
Nabholz has also built or renovated Butterfield and Happy Hollow elementaries and several other projects in the district.
NW News on 05/31/2018