THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509290482
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
An ongoing analysis of fire-ravaged Princess Anne High School suggests that the school system may decide to salvage the most seriously damaged wing rather than raze it.
While no decision has been made, school officials said Thursday the front section of the 41-year-old school probably will be cleared of asbestos, gutted and rebuilt.
On Sept. 1, a fire that officials say was intentionally set burned for several hours, destroying or heavily damaging 28 classrooms, a newly renovated library, the main office and the cafeteria.
In fighting the blaze, firefighters inadvertently cut through sections of encapsulated asbestos, causing the deadly substance to spread through the fire-damaged wing and to other parts of the school.
The asbestos cleanup has hampered efforts to begin work on renovation of the wing, which bore the fire's brunt, and has slowed the reoccupation of other sections of the school, on Virginia Beach Boulevard just east of Pembroke Mall.
Contractors, architects and insurance adjusters, who are assigned the task of reporting the wing's fate to the School Board, have been delayed in their work while they received training in how to move about in an asbestos-contaminated building.
``The speculation at this point is that the interior walls will be removed and that some of the steel supports that were damaged in the fire can be preserved,'' said Anne Meek, executive assistant to interim Superintendent James Pughsley.
``The new construction would be built on the framework of the old, but no detailed plans have been made,'' she added. ``We have no blueprints. We don't have any projected costs, schedules or drawings.''
With these details unresolved, the school system has yet to say how much the fire will cost the insurance company, Aetna Life & Casualty.
``Until you get detailed plans, you don't know what kind of money you're talking about,'' she said.
Arson investigators from the Virginia Beach Fire Department have not announced any arrests, despite a $1,000 reward offered by Virginia Beach Crime Solvers and a $5,000 reward offered by the Virginia chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators.
Joe Lowenthal, a school spokesman, said there likely will be a three-pronged approach to restoring the building.
First, remove asbestos from the first and second floors.
Second, remove steel beams that were warped in the fire and replace them.
Third, remove all masonry walls and rebuild them, then do the finish work.
``Only about four rooms were damaged beyond recognition, and these rooms were closest to the fire,'' Lowenthal said. ``The rest appear to be in pretty good shape.''
Large sections of the building's mechanical and electrical systems remain inoperative, including telephones and fire detectors, he said.
``We're talking about some time before we can get back into it,'' he said. ``No one knows when. We still do not have a damage estimate.
``One reason it's not that straightforward is that because of all the other things besides the building itself, things like the rental of computers, telephones, buildings and so forth. That has not been figured in, plus all the material that the teachers lost.''
Most of the Princess Anne students are attending classes inside Celebration Station, a former shopping mall at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Little Neck Road. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH/Staff file
Firefighters battle flames during blaze Sept. 1 at Princess Anne
High School on Virginia Beach Boulevard east of Pembroke Mall.
KEYWORDS: FIRES PRINCESS ANNE HIGH SCHOOL by CNB