$1M needed to fix Classical sinking

LYNN – Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan has been proactive when it comes to dealing with the slow but steady sinking of Classical High School, but there are still costly repairs needed to address the decade-old problem.”The biggest risk is not a roof falling in; it’s the roof drains and the sanitary sewer which are the only things left under the slab,” Donovan said. “To eliminate the greatest threat would be to relocate the drains and the sanitary line.”The basic cost for that project would be an estimated $1.1 million Donovan said.The three-story school opened in 1999, was built on an old dump site and began to sink soon after it was completed.It was determined the concrete slab under the first floor was not properly supported by pilings. A subsequent lawsuit netted the School Department repairs to the worst portion of the school and a $17 million settlement. Donovan said he has been using the settlement to make proactive interim repairs but he expects to run through the last of it this year.Principal Gene Constantino said he remembered the early days when walking into the library was like walking into a fun house with a tilted floor. There is nothing in the school today that indicates that kind of damage is imminent, he said.”There are little things you can see,” he said. “Little cracks that we’ve seen for years but nothing like before.”Donovan said any structure, especially one that is more than a decade old, is expected to show signs of settling, however, he admits that Classical is a different story. It is why inspectional services has adhered to a strict safety operations plan over the years, he explained.The plan consists of quarterly inspections for areas below the ceiling, twice-a-year inspections for things above the ceiling and yearly air quality testing.All masonry work, rooftop and measured settlement is also closely monitored, he added.While the school is still sinking, it’s doing so at less than an inch per year, Donovan said.Due to proactive diligence, Donovan said the greatest risk in the school now is that the sewer line that runs under the slab will break, which could go unnoticed for an undetermined amount of time and would be costly to repair.He said his department routinely videotapes the line to check it but it will have to be relocated at some point and it is estimated it will be a six- to eight-month project, which means timing is everything.”Figure three months for design time, two months to bid and the last two months of the project would have to take place in July and August,” he said. “It would be tight if they wanted to do it for next summer. It would be more probable for 2014.”City Council President Timothy Phelan, who heard an update on the Classical situation during a council meeting last week, said there are no immediate plans to address the issue. However, he said he would like to see it funded sooner rather than later.Phelan said the city will also be looking at the possibility of funding 20 percent of the cost of a new Marshall Middle School, and another $1.2 million for new windows at Breed Middle School and a new roof at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.Donovan said the city has always known the drain and the sewer would need to be relocated eventually.”The risk has always been there, but the longer you wait the bigger the risk,” he said.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].