Walls start falling at Harding
By JENNIFER KOVACS Tribune ChronicleArticle Photos
WARREN - Ed Buydos was a graduate of Warren Western Reserve High School, but even he couldn't miss watching as demolition began Monday on the Warren G. Harding High School fieldhouse.
''It's a big event, you know,'' Buydos said from his perch on the sidewalk on Atlantic Street N.E., directly across from the mounting pile of rubble.
Monday marked the first day of demolition; the new school will open next door for the 2008-09 school year.
''It's a sad thing for it to come down, but you have a brand new school that's going to open. Actually, it's going to be better for the kids,'' Buydos said.
The fieldhouse is expected to be completely down by today, said Mark Donnelly, director of the district's business office.
Next on the demolition schedule, being completed by Delphi Consulting Inc. of Houston, Pa., will be what's known as the ''V-wing,'' or the back addition to the high school where the cafeteria sits.
And as the reality set in Monday, City Councilman Alford Novak, D-2nd Ward, who has fought publicly to save the building, said that even seeing the fieldhouse go was need for pause.
He recalled all of the athletic events he's attended in the 1955 addition, the band nights that used to be hosted inside and even how the building was home to activities for the Trumbull County Fair, back when the fairgrounds bordered the school.
And even once, Novak remembered, a circus act mounted a high wire in the fieldhouse for a tightrope performance.
''There's gonna be a big empty hole here on Atlantic Street, and there may be a big empty hole on Elm Road as well,'' Novak said.
Despite the rain clouds and wafting dust from the debris, there still was plenty of optimism in the air.
Anna Sheely of Lordstown was watching the activity from her daughter's house on Atlantic. A Harding graduate from the 1970s, Sheely said the building still has meaning to her.
''It's hard to see, but you know the kids needed a new change,'' she said.
And LaCameron Workman agreed. Workman, 15, will be a sophomore next school year. And while he enjoyed his time at the old school, he's pretty excited to see the new building.
''It's not really that tough. Then again, I hate to see it go down. But we have a fresh start coming up,'' he said.
Down the street, Buydos was joined by his son Andrew, who was busy snapping photos of the destruction with his digital camera.
Andrew Buydos will be a freshman at Harding this fall, so he was a little partial toward seeing the building go.
''I'm ready for the new one. We have air conditioning this year,'' he said.
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RaiderinWesterville
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07-05-08 12:23 PM
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Since I am a graduate of WWR I say let it fall. This is just like an Ohio State or Cleveland Browns fan watching something in Michigan or Pittsburgh fall.
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jnovotny
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07-02-08 12:40 AM
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So much history reduced to rubble. Way to go Warren!
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nativio289
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07-01-08 10:32 AM
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Yeah, well, this should prove to be an interesting comments thread as the Demolition foes and the pro-demo folks nitpick and snipe at each other. Can't wait! And on a totally unrelated note, will we get this week's 'Letters to the Editor' online anytime soon?
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