Well, so much for our school.

ErikaFuzzbottom · **Posted:** March 29th, 2009, 4:09 pm

http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-benld-eleme ... 8539.story

Quote:

No school in the small town of Benld, Illinois or surrounding communities Monday morning. Police say Benld Elementary has major structural damage likely caused by mine subsidence. Floors and walls are cracked and a water line is broken. Water and gas are shut off. At this point, the school cannot be used and may need to be torn down.

Gillespie School Superintendent Paul Skiens' office said Sunday that all classes in the district's three schools, Benld Elementary, Gillespie Middle School, and Gillespie High School, are canceled Monday March 30. Officials will use that day to come with a plan for the placement of students for the rest of the school year. There are a total of about 1,340 students in the district.

A community meeting was held Sunday morning so parent and residents could learn more about the structural problems.

The building is only seven years old, too.

Lantis · **Posted:** March 30th, 2009, 9:44 am

Wow... that's just amazing. I'm kind of interested in the mines under a school. It would be better yet if they were the stereotypical old and abandoned kind.

KingSpoom · **Posted:** March 30th, 2009, 4:12 pm

I find it interesting that 3 seperate schools are all damaged at the same time.

ErikaFuzzbottom · **Posted:** March 30th, 2009, 4:26 pm

Well, technically, they're two separate schools. The middle school and high school are all a part of the same building. And only the elementary school was hit.

I assume the middle and high schools were also closed because they're part of the same group; the elementary school ends after 5th grade and the middle school starts off with the 6th. Also probably because those working at the middle and high schools also needed to take part in the meeting. Presumably, what might happen is the elementary students will be moved into the other schools for a double-shift.

Read that the elementary school cost $7.5 million to build, and I hear that, if they rebuilt it, it'll cost almost twice as much. The damage must be pretty severe, if they wouldn't let the news in to take pictures.

Yeah, there's actually a lot of abandoned mines beneath us. They've been a problem for quite a while. I remember some years back when a mine subsided beneath the railroad, delayed the trains for a few days. The news even said our county was famous (locally, at least) for its underground mines.

KarrLordofChaos · **Posted:** March 30th, 2009, 6:48 pm

so who would be responsible for rebuilding all those homes and facilities that are essentially write offs? it really sucks that the place is new and now is completely pooched.

ErikaFuzzbottom · **Posted:** March 30th, 2009, 11:07 pm

That's an understatement, Karr.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/regional/story ... 0&catid=16

Not only the building, the friggin' land it's sitting on is pooched.

Check out the video to the right. At one point you can see extra supports were put up for the walls. I wouldn't be surprised if the place just collapses on its own sometime.

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Well, so much for our school.

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