By Nancy Leighton
The Skyhaven School has been empty for at least five years now. Finally, the DeKalb School Board decided to demolish the building. Demolition work started this past spring. They started slowly at the north end of the building, instead of bringing in the heavy equipment and just leveling everything. Piles of similar materials began to accumulate. It is conceivable they were doing some type of asbestos abatement, lead abatement, or dealing with other hazardous materials. In addition, they could be preparing things for recycling.
They didn’t start working on the main classroom part of the building until all the piles had been removed. The building was built with heavy masonry, brick, stone, and concrete. As the demolition progressed, they separated more materials. In the end, everything was reduced to piles of uniformly sized chunks of concrete typical of that prepared for recycling.
The Skyhaven School was built in the 1950s. The first students to attend were from the baby boomer generation. At that time, many new homes were built in the area, including brick ranch, spilt-level, and other styles. Buyers were attracted to the homes’ floor plans, the large yards, and the nearby shopping at Sunshine Plaza as well as the busy Moreland Shopping Center. Having a new elementary school within walking distance was another big selling point.
As the baby boomer generation grew up and left their parents’ home, there were fewer and fewer children to attend the school. The DeKalb School Board wrestled with this problem for years. Finally, they closed the school, and now it is demolished.
The grounds have been nicely graded. Perhaps it will be a green space for the time being until another plan is created.
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