Demolition of Owego Elementary School has begun

Demolition of the Owego Elementary School began on Monday and following a brief press conference delivered by Dr. Bill Russell, Owego-Apalachin superintendent. The 9 a.m. press conference outlined the demolition plans, and welcomed those who came by to say goodbye to their old school.

The building, which was destroyed in the September 2011 flood, has been divided into sections during the abatement process, according to Russell, and the western-most section was the first portion of OES to be taken down.

"Monday will be a good day, but a sad day," said Dr. Russell. "This will provide a milestone, a visible sign that we're moving forward, and that after 20 months of working 'on paper' after the disaster, this is happening, and that's very exciting."

"At the same time, this has been the elementary school in the community since 1965," he added, "with generations of families, students, teachers, employees all spending such an important part of their lives inside that building."

One of those standing by to watch the demolition begin was Penny Zandy, who served as an elementary teacher for 17 years and as principal from 1990 to 1999.

Standing nearby the site, a tearful Zandy said that she was watching the demolition with mixed emotions.

"It was a wonderful building filled with wonderful students," said Zandy.

Also nearby on Monday was Carol Stuble. Struble served the school district for 45 years, and was the first secretary to arrive at the former elementary school in 1965. Struble also had mixed emotions.

"So many memories...so many kids have gone through here," Struble stated as the first walls of the flooded school began to crumble.

On a brighter side, Struble also stated that she is excited to see what the new school will look like, and will be happy to see the students return. Since the flood of 2011, Owego Elementary School students have been attending school at Linnaeus W West in Endicott, N.Y. Fifth grade students were moved to the middle school.

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Demolition of Owego Elementary School has begun