Access to John Rogers property restricted Aug. 1
Update September 11, 2020
Demolition of the former John Rogers Elementary School is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.
Beginning August 1, 2020 a temporary fence will be installed and access limited to the former John Rogers Elementary School property as workers prepare the building for demolition.
Voters authorized the demolition of the former school as part of the 2016 school bond. Demolition is necessary as the building cannot be occupied without costly repairs to meet building codes in areas such as fire safety, insulation, seismic, heating and air conditioning, lighting, and Americans with Disability Act requirements. Even then, it would be an inadequate education space due to the aging infrastructure.
Since the elementary school closed in 2001, the building housed the Olympia Regional Learning Academy until it moved to its new site in February 2015. It also served as the district’s warehouse until the Knox 111 Administrative Center opened last summer.
The property, located at 2001 26th Ave. N.E. in Olympia, will be closed to the public while it is an active construction area. Nearly everything on the site will be removed with the exception of the asphalt parking lot, trees and perimeter fencing. Grass will be planted on the site once the building is removed. It is not currently planned for use as an athletic field.
Once demolition work is completed, and environmental impacts have been addressed, the temporary fencing will be condensed to protect the freshly seeded areas until the grass is established and there is no concern of erosion (likely late spring 2021). There are no specific plans at this time for the site beyond adding a grass field.
The demolition will impact the main John Rogers building only. The adjacent building on the east side of the John Rogers property (off of Friendly Grove Road N.E.) that has been used for preschool will not be impacted.