By Muriel Nelson
Some BIG changes occurred at CLACC during the month of September. The old, almost foreboding-looking furnaces were removed from the “boiler room”. It wasn’t any secret operation because there was plenty of intermittent, and sometimes loud, noises when the furnaces were disassembled and removed along with a lot of pipe and other equipment used by the outdated heating system.
Asbestos Removal Services (ARS) from Frederic was awarded the contract to remove the asbestos-contaminated material from the old furnace room. This included the two brick-shrouded furnaces with their heavy cast iron doors. These heating units had long been retired from use and were showing signs of their 102 years age. Beginning Tuesday, September 3, ARS essentially cleared the room of all equipment associated with the old furnaces by Friday, October 4. They ensured that all rules and regulations for asbestos management were appropriately followed throughout the process.
Mark Rundquist, a custodian of former old high school that is now the community center building, was a great source of information when the project was planned. Tim Wyss and Wendy Schoggins served as facility coordinators for the project.
CLACC was able to accomplish this transformation, thanks to a grant from Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and specifically, their Site Assessment Grant (SAG) program. The 816 s.f. room with an18 ft ceiling will be refurbished to become useable rental space for the community center.
Stay tuned as CLACC continues this renovation as money becomes available.
Most people have never been to the depths of the old boiler room to see these 100+ year old ovens. Here they are before demolition began.
Once the brick casings were removed, only metal remained. All of the materials were removed from two windows, located just to the left of the main door #1, which have been covered with wood for years.
With the two monsterous boilers gone, only dirt and sand remains in the center of the old boiler room floor.
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