Demolition of houses recently purchased by the Jefferson City School District has begun.
The demolition of 34 houses near Jefferson City High School - most of them damaged by the May 2019 tornado - began April 9.
The district has contracts on another 16 houses in the neighborhood, but residents are still living there. Landlords wanted to give the renters at the houses time to find other housing, so some of these contracts go into 2021.
The demolition and purchase of the houses will cost $2.5 million-$3 million, said Jason Hoffman, JC Schools chief financial/operating officer. The contract states demolition must be done by July 31, but the contractor, Premier Demolition Inc., estimates it will be done before then, Hoffman said.
The houses are between Stadium Boulevard and Union Street, and Jackson and Adams streets.
A competition soccer field and baseball/softball field will eventually be built in the area. Hoffman said he does not know when the competition fields will be built because the district currently doesn't have enough money to build them, and he doesn't know yet how much it will cost.
"We had two problems at Jefferson City High School before: We didn't have any space to do this, and we didn't have any money to do it," he said. "This will alleviate one of the problems, but we still don't have the funds to move forward with this plan. But it gives us the flexibility to actually make a plan."
In 2017, JC Schools passed a bond issue to build Capital City High School and renovate and expand Jefferson City High School. When Capital City High School was built, the district didn't have enough funds to build competition fields, so it built practice facilities knowing it would eventually build competition fields at both high schools.
To make space for the fields on the Jefferson City High School campus, the original plan was to cut the rock wall between the YMCA and Adkins Stadium, which would cost $6 million and wouldn't leave room for parking or locker rooms.
The May 22, 2019, tornado damaged houses in the neighborhood by Jefferson City High School. Some residents in the neighborhood contacted the district about buying their property, and the district then sent a letter to every homeowner in the area asking them to contact the district if they were interested in selling their property. The district has not bought all the homes in the neighborhood.