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THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015
Former KHS
soon to be
demolished
By Johanna Burns
Staff Reporter
A chapter of Kirksville education history will close with the
planned demolition of the former
Kirksville High School building
located at 411 E. McPherson St.
The City of Kirksville is working to fulfill the requirements for
the Community and Development Block Grant issued by the
U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development to secure
funding for the project. The building has been in poor condition for
several years and has been a concern for the city since 2006.
Brad Selby, Codes and Planning Director, said the building
has become an eyesore. He said
during 2006 the city became
aware the building had several issues, including broken windows,
a caved-in roof, and overgrown
weeds and trees growing out of
the building.
Selby said the building has
had several owners throughout
the years. His department first
took action against the owners
of the building during 2006,
taking legal action in an effort
to compel the owners to make
repairs, he said.
Selby said although the owners at the time were found liable for the repairs and were
compelled by the court to fix the
issues found, the owners financially were not able to make the
necessary changes. Selby said the
owners then sold the building to
someone who thought they could
facilitate the repairs. He said the
new owners then discovered they
could not afford to repair the
damage to the building.
“We’ve had people come in
because the building has got historic value — there’s no doubt,
it’s almost a hundred years old,”
Selby said. “We’ve had people
come in and say they think they
can renovate it.”
Selby said developers have
shown interest in renovating
the building as an apartment
complex, but the building
structurally is so unstable
it would be prohibitively
expensive to fix. He said
the building currently has
no electricity or heating, is
rusted and moldy, and has a
ruined roof. He said while
the outside structure of the
building appears sound, the
inside poses a real danger.
Selby said he doubts anyone
could make the necessary
renovations and still turn a
profit on the building.
Selby said the Kirksville Historic Preservation Committee is
aware of the historical significance of the old school, but said
there is no way to preserve it.
He said he had the building condemned before the committee
was formed.
“We’d love to see the building,
something done with it, but we
just can’t find anyone that would
be willing to do it, and all the
owners that have owned it since
I’ve been around have been trying to find someone that could
take it,” Selby said.
Selby said more inspections
are required by the city before
demolition can begin. Once the
building has been inspected for
asbestos, the department can
reach out to construction companies for bids, he said. Selby said
he hopes to begin demolition
during July and finish by October
of this year.
The project is funded in part
by a Community and Development Block Grant and in part by
the current owner of the building, Selby said.
The CDBG program is designed to provide resources to
communities to address a wide
range of community needs, according to the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development website.
The school was built during 1914 by architects Trank &
Gordon to relieve overcrowding in the school district, according to a 1986 Kirksville
Codes and Planning survey.
The survey noted the school
Photos by Trevor Stark/Index
Above: The south entrance of the former Kirksville High School is boarded up to bar entrance to
the dilapidated structure. The building is slated to be demolished during summer and fall 2015.
was abandoned during 1960
when the current high school
was constructed. The school
was used to host Board of Education meetings until 1978,
and that was the last time the
school actively was used. At the
time of that survey, the school’s
condition was rated as poor.
Editor’s note: The building’s owner
was unable to speak with the Index
due to schedule constraints.
Above left: Padlocks and chains secure the doors on the
east entrance to the former Kirksville High School building.
This security is intended to keep potential trespassers from
entering the decaying structure. Top right: The stone marker
above the south entrance of the old Kirksville High School
shows the building’s original purpose. Bottom right: The rear
docking area of the former Kirksville High School building
stands vacant and covered in vines. The structure has been a
concern for the city of Kirksville since 2006 and was deemed
too structurally unsound to be repaired or restored.
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