Carmel board votes to demolish flood-damaged Orchard Park school

In Carmel, the Carmel Clay Schools board voted 5-0 on Oct. 28 to demolish the former Orchard Park Elementary building, and the resolution says the property is to remain in educational use while its specific future use remains open, Current Publishing reported.

The reported resolution found the building unsafe and unusable and said demolition was in the public’s health and safety interest. It directs the superintendent to report on possible site uses by March 31, 2027. That deadline is for the site-use report, not a demolition schedule; Current said no demolition date had been announced.

Water damaged the building and its systems i

In an Oct. 23 notice, the district said maintenance staff found approximately four feet of standing water in the boiler room on Oct. 14. The district said an investigation found a primary water main had ruptured beneath the building, damaging infrastructure and compromising the central mechanical plant.

Current reported that about 60% of the building experienced at least some flooding. Those figures describe different measures: four feet was the water depth in the boiler room, while 60% was the reported share of the building affected by some flooding.

The City of Carmel inspected the property on Oct. 19 and deemed it structurally unsafe, Current reported. The district said the city’s determination was based on structural-stability concerns.

Fanning Howey project executive Dennis Bayne identified erosion beneath the boiler-room foundation slab, failure of the central mechanical system, loss of environmental and life-safety systems, and roof displacement. He advised against investing capital in repairs, Current reported.

The district’s notice said the building, playground and surrounding grounds would be closed to the public. The former school had been used for district storage after it stopped operating as a school, Current reported.

Board President Jon Shapiro supported demolition, citing safety and the impracticality of spending more taxpayer money on the damaged building. Board member Kristina Wheeler said the damage was worse than she expected after viewing the building with the inspector, Current reported.