By Jeff Vorva
Beecher High School had a wet Christmas and damage has been done to the two gymnasiums and the cafeteria.
Beecher 200U Superintendent Jack Gaham said the school still will be open when students are scheduled to return on January 10 and, with the exception of physical education classes and sports events and practices, everything else will be normal.
Gaham gave an update on the soggy situation in a December 28 video he posted on YouTube and the district’s website. He also wanted to quell some of the rumors that have been circulating around town since a four-inch water pipe snapped on Christmas day.
“There was no explosion,” he said. “The school is still standing at 538 Miller Street. We’re still here. The roof did not blow off. It did not take 24-36 hours from the time of the alarm to respond. Within three hours, we had a company here cleaning up.”
He staunchly squelched another falsehood about leaving the heat off during the holiday break.
“I would never turn the heat off in a building – especially when I know it’s going to be sub-zero,” Gaham said. “Plus, I have workers here, so at no point was the heat ever turned off.
“We are in a predicament that many schools find themselves in when it’s 30 below with wind chills outside. This is an old school and, sooner or later, old schools have things happen to them.”
Classrooms did get dirty, but Servpro Water Damage and Restoration has been working to clean them up, Gaham said.
The laminate flooring in the cafeteria could be salvaged, if the glue underneath the flooring can be dried out. If not, it’s possible it can be replaced in time for the students’ return.
The problems with the two gyms lastly left both of them unusable. Gaham said the buckles in the wood flooring are a tripping hazard. The floors can be replaced, and the smaller gym could be back in use by April, but the main gym will take longer to repair because of its size.
Physical education classes will be contained to the weight room and classrooms on campus, Gaham said, but the district is looking into bussing students to another facility – such as the Zion Community Center for a few days of other activities.
Sporting events and practices will be moved. While Gaham said many of the winter sports will be able to be played at the junior high school, officials from Peotone and Grant Park High Schools offered their gyms in case of a conflict with the junior high.
Practice schedules will be mapped out in the near future, the superintendent said.
This is a tough situation, but Gaham is thankful it was not worse.
“I’m a silver-lining type of person, which is what my job requires me to be,” Gaham noted. “One silver lining is that it happened over holiday break, which means we have two weeks to get all these things cleaned and fixed and get back to as reasonable as we can in a two-week time span.
“The building will be clean and ready to go when students get back on January 10.”
