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Crews Working To Repair Extensive Flood Damage At East High School

Lee Hale
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KUER
The iconic school cafeteria featured in the movie High School Musical is in need of a new floor following the flood.

An early morning downpour two weeks ago caused flooding and property damage around Salt Lake City and nowhere was hit harder than East High School.   

East High is located on 1300 E and looks like it was built to pool water. The front of the school sits on a downward slope.

Credit Lee Hale / KUER
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KUER
The warped gym floor will need to be replaced before basketball season.

 

“As a result the water came down 9th South and stopped here at East High," says Paul Shulte, Exectuive Director of Auxiliary Services for Salt Lake City School District.

 

Schulte says the primary problem area was a sloped lawn near the entrance of the school. At the bottom of that slope are huge vents that lead to one of the primary HVAC room and at 4 a.m. on July 26th that room filled up like a swimming pool.

 

Credit Lee Hale / KUER
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KUER
Basement classrooms need new drywall and paint before school begins on August 21st.

  The pressure of more than 4 feet of water was enough to burst through a metal door, setting off a security alarm that alerted Schulte and the rest of his crew.

 

Once the room burst, water poured into the school’s basement destroying walls and flooring in a number of classrooms, the gym and cafeteria. All told it's an estimated $4 million in damages.

 

“We’ve had 90 people here working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week because school starts on August 21st," says Schulte.

 

Workers won’t fully complete the restoration by the time school starts in two weeks but their goal is to ensure the cafeteria and classrooms are fully functional.  

 

Clothing, food and laundry facilities that serve students in needwere also damaged in the flood. Those in the community wishing to help with a donation can do so contacting the school's Family Involvement Coodinator Kris Barta (kris.barta@slcschools.org). 

Lee Hale began listening to KUER while he was teaching English at a Middle School in West Jordan (his one hour commute made for plenty of listening time). Inspired by what he heard he applied for the Kroc Fellowship at NPR headquarters in DC and to his surprise, he got it. Since then he has reported on topics ranging from TSA PreCheck to micro apartments in overcrowded cities to the various ways zoo animals stay cool in the summer heat. But, his primary focus has always been education and he returns to Utah to cover the same schools he was teaching in not long ago. Lee is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is also fascinated with the way religion intersects with the culture and communities of the Beehive State. He hopes to tell stories that accurately reflect the beliefs that Utahns hold dear.
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