Demolition work on the last remaining section of the circa 1925 Forks High School building is expected to begin next week. Construction of a new addition to the high school has reached the point where the building needs to be removed.

Demolition is expected to begin next week on the square, brick-faced section of the circa 1925 Forks High School building.

The ornate terra cotta sections on the west face of the building are to be carefully removed and used in a memorial wall inside the entrance to the new Forks High School addition now under construction. A public hearing was held on the issue last summer.

“There were no funds brought to the district to salvage the facade,” Reaume told the Forks Forum on Monday.

A section two stories tall and several feet deep of the front of the building was to be kept as a free-standing entrance arch, if funds were raised outside of the Quillayute Valley School District bond and matching state funds to pay for the project.

An estimate of $271,000 was given by winning bidder general contractor Primo Construction when bids were opened last year for construction of the new addition to Forks High School.

Some funds were raised locally, mostly from visiting Twilight fans, but only amounted to a small fraction of the amount needed. Those funds are expected to be given to the high school to pay for student activities.

Reaume said the QVSD has kept 1500 bricks from the demolition of the classroom wing of the circa 1925 school building done last June, and will have more from the demolition of the facade. She said the bricks are being cleaned of any possibly hazardous materials and will be sold as a fundraiser at the time of the dedication of the new high school addition.

A hunt for Forks High School time capsules will take place as part of the demolition of the remaining main entrance section of the building. It is believed a time capsule was placed behind the cornerstone of the building in 1925. The Class of 1960 reportedly placed a time capsule in the general area of the time capsule on school grounds.

A dedication date for the new high school addition is close to being determined.

OAC Construction Supervisor Kasey Wyatt said by the end of the month she should have an approximate opening date for the school. The heavier-than-usual rainfall over the winter has created some construction delays, Wyatt reported to the Quillayute Valley School District Board in late April.