Residents urge preservation of Smithtown School as asbestos, demolition costs are discussed

Public commenters at the Quarry County Board of Education meeting on Oct. 28 urged the board to consider preserving the vacant Smithtown School and to fully explore renovation or sale before pursuing demolition, citing historic value and public-health concerns related to asbestos.

Caitlin Ross, a resident who signed up to speak during the public-comment period, told the board she feared demolition would harm the community and said she had nominated the building to be surveyed for preservation. "So out of the 12 schools that were originally built in 2005, only 6 were surveyable and only 3 are still standing now," Ross said, arguing the schoolhouse is part of the county's heritage and asking the board to pursue grants and other funding to avoid demolition.

Ross raised multiple health and safety questions tied to asbestos and lead, including whether demolition contractors had been screened for hazardous-material removal experience and whether removal could render asbestos friable and airborne. She said the Heritage Council and Historic Society had indicated they could assist with up to 40% of remediation costs and asked whether demolition funds would come from tax revenue or grants. "If those materials were potentially put into the site, it could allow for [airborne release]," Ross said, describing community concern about long-term exposure.

In response, Superintendent Dr. Taylor said the district had contracted Air Source Technologies to survey the building and that the findings are incorporated into the district's asbestos plan. "There is one section of plaster that will have to be removed prior to demolition," Dr. Taylor said, and the district would contract with a company that specializes in asbestos removal to carry out recommended work. He added the district notifies the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 10 days before starting regulated asbestos work.

A staff speaker told the board that an architect had provided an earlier estimate of more than $2 million to renovate the newer building on the site, and that at the time the district lacked funding or a program that would justify that level of renovation. Community members asked whether demolition estimates quoted in public remarks (figures discussed by commenters during the meeting ranged in the transcript between tens of thousands and roughly $180,000) were accurate and where the money would come from; staff did not provide a single, final demolition-price figure during the public-comment exchange recorded in the transcript.

Speakers also discussed insurance and liability. Dr. Taylor said insurance considerations and the property's condition affect the district's options and that any individual claim would be evaluated by the district's insurer. The meeting transcript includes a comment that a federal asbestos compensation fund exists to help people who later develop asbestos-related illnesses, but Dr. Taylor cautioned the district could not speculate about future individual claims.

The board did not make a final public decision on Smithtown School during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript. Community members asked that a large stone from the building be preserved as memorabilia if demolition occurs. The district indicated the asbestos plan and required notifications are in place and that licensed contractors would perform removal work recommended in the survey.

The Smithtown discussion will be part of the district's ongoing facilities work; no formal vote on demolition or sale is recorded in the provided excerpt.