March 11, 2004                                                              

DEMOLITION TO BEGIN AT SECOND SCHOOL IN THREE WEEKS

 CLEVELAND, OH – Cleveland Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and other dignitaries will mark the start of demolition of the former Memorial Elementary School on Friday, March 12^th, at noon. This comes only days after demolition started at the old Riverside School on the city’s West Side. Brand new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools will be constructed on both sites.

Ceremonies at Memorial (410 East 152^nd Street) will be conducted in the former school’s Memorial Gardens. These commemorate the site of one of the worst school fires in U.S. history. Ninety-six years ago this month, 172 students, two teachers and one rescuer died in what was known as the Lakeview School at the same location. Fewer than half the students at the school survived the tragedy.

As a result of the disaster, safety laws were put into place nationwide to ensure that doors in schools open outward and feature panic bars. At the request of the community, the Memorial Gardens will be retained as part of the new school.

The new building will consist of 84,865 square feet and will cost $12.5 million. Its doors will open to students for the 2005-06 school year. Architectural renderings will be available at Friday’s event.

The new school is part of the District’s $1.5 billion Facilities Plan. At the Plan’s conclusion, the District will have built over 50 new school buildings, and will have renovated a similar number, many with additions.