Flash flooding from an estimated 4 inches of rain Saturday caused an estimated $1 million in damages to Columbus East High School, including damaging gym flooring.
The high school is closed so that a cleaning company can work on it, said Principal Mark Newell.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Director of Operations Brett Boezeman said that while it’s too early to tell how long the building will be closed, some areas could be re-opened in about a week. Air quality samples will play a role in decision-making.
According to Boezeman, somewhere between 160,000-200,000 square feet may have been affected by flooding, including all athletic areas of the main building and all of the lower level. Some portions of the auditorium were also affected, but the damage there was described as minor.
While the baseball and softball fields were flooded and the damage has yet to be determined, the impact on those areas should also be "relatively minor," he said.
The water affected "basically the whole lower level" of the building, from the gym area at the south end to the north end near the cafeteria, said Newell. On Sunday morning, the athletic area was ankle deep with water, whereas the area near the cafeteria was a couple of inches deep.
“Most of the water is gone now," he said Monday. "It was sewer water, so the leftover is not very pleasant right now.”
As of Tuesday morning, Boezeman said that all of the standing water had been removed.
Insurance will cover damage from the flood, Newell said.
Boezeman said that $1 million would be a "rough guess" for the estimated total cost of damages to the school, though he added that it’s "too soon to say with much accuracy." Insurance will provide updated estimates in the near future.
Two main areas of concern, at present, are the auxiliary gym and main gym flooring. Boezeman said that the auxiliary gym floor may need to be replaced, and the estimated cost of this is roughly $200,000.
School officials are also "working to restore the main gym floor," which Newell said is likely salvageable. According to Boezeman, the cost of salvaging or fixing the main gym floor is unknown at this point and will depend on how much work is needed, and how the floor "responds."
"The main floor didn’t have much water, but more exploration is needed," he said.
The school’s recently renovated auditorium had some water on stage and in the orchestra pit, said Newell. The dressing rooms also had water in them.
Auditorium director Kevin Welsh said that there was water in some backstage areas and a little bit onstage, though Boezeman and others "worked hard to keep the stage clear." Of the recent renovations, the only water-affected area was the orchestra pit, which "even now still has water pouring into it and a pump pulling it out," Welsh said Monday night.
Another impact of the flooding is changes for summer activities that would normally take place at East.
All summer indoor athletic events, such as practices and open gyms, have had to be relocated or canceled.
For instance, the free-throw clinic that Koryn Greiwe is hosting today has been moved to Central Middle School.
Athletics Director Pete Huse said the volleyball and boys’ basketball teams will be practicing at Central, and girls’ basketball practice has been canceled for this week.
Since next week is moratorium week, there won’t be any athletic practices at that time anyway, Newell said.
According to C4 Director Gene Hack, the Latino LEGO Robotics Camp, previously scheduled to take place at East this week, has been relocated to Columbus North High School’s C4 area.
“The C4 folks, led by Gene, have been terrific in helping us to do these camps," said Purdue Polytechnic Columbus Director Joe Fuehne on Monday. "We’ve moved our materials to North High School. Mark Doub is working hard to get the computers and software ready, and Linda Pierson is helping us with all the logistics. Their support has been outstanding, especially as we’ve dealt with the flooding."
Boezeman said that East was the only BCSC school to be significantly impacted by the flash flooding and that "there are many matters which are still undetermined as we are still early in the process of cleaning.”
"A professional cleaning crew will work two shifts until the work is complete," Boezeman said on Tuesday. "They arrived on site yesterday. We estimate the cleaning and sanitizing could take three weeks, but that’s just a guess at this point."
He does not have a cost estimate for their work at this time.
Boezman added that he is grateful to BCSC staff and contractors "who dedicated all of their Father’s Day to help extract water and limit damage to the school.”
