Catawba County commissioners to ask for financial assistance for demolition

By: Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record
Published: January 19, 2009

NEWTON
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners will discuss the transfers and appropriations of more than $95,000 from school construction projects funds to cover the cost of the demolition of the old St. Stephens School.

The money, $34,315, will come from funds earmarked for the Balls Creek sewer project and infrastructure and equipment for Maiden High School. The rest will taken from the county's General Fund Balance.

The Catawba County School System requested the money after being informed of the vacant building being in violation of several Hickory codes, making it considered a public safety hazard. The system decided to demolish the building, which has become a shelter for vagrants and a target for vandalism, rather than renovation.

The cost of the demolition, which includes asbestos removal, is estimated at $88,000.

The board meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Robert E. Hibbitts Meeting Room in the 1924 Courthouse in Newton.

To read more about this story, see tomorrow's Hickory Daily Record.