Fieldcrest Middle School’s oldest section in Wenona being torn down piece-by-piece

Demolition of the old high school section at Fieldcrest Middle School in Wenona has begun, revealing a time capsule and an old bank vault door in the process.

Superintendent Kari Rockwell said the bank vault door is being saved, although she’s not quite sure why it was there in the first place. The time capsule, she said, is a pretty neat piece of history featuring three newspapers and three coins from the year the building was constructed.

“It’s a very slow process because we want to make sure we protect the integrity of the existing building,” Rockwell said. “There are also multiple pieces within the building that will be saved.”

This includes the aforementioned vault, an arch featuring the names of the original school board members and architect involved in building the school, and pieces of the stage floor that are original to the building.

The bricks on the building are also going to be saved, around 500 of them, to build a sidewalk with the names of those who purchase an engraving listed on them.

“So, we’re moving about 18,000 square feet of space that really hasn’t been used in a long time,” Rockwell said. “Once that comes down, which will take about two months, a new addition will start and that will be about 5,000 square feet.”

Rockwell said the demolition costs $194,000 total, and the new addition is slated to begin construction in August or September.