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Jr. high is outdated

From a facilities standpoint, any consolidation plan for Butler schools that uses the junior high building is a waste of taxpayer money.

The cornerstone is dated 1917. Construction guidelines from that period, such as high ceilings and little or no insulation in exterior walls, are a continuous drain on the school district’s treasury.

Anyone walking by in winter should not be surprised to see windows open because the heating system is chunking out BTUs at the expense of taxpayer dollars.

The original steel superstructure is riveted. Modern construction practices use welded and bolted structures where the strength comes from welded connections and the assembly of the structure is accomplished through bolting. These types of connections are generally accepted as being 100 percent efficient.

An article from The Literary Digest, Sept. 19, 1925 edition, discusses the introduction of welding to skyscraper construction. It states, “The loss of strength on riveted sections runs from 30 to 50 percent.”

Taking this one step further, anyone who has done any abbreviated reading on Nikola Tesla would know that the world around us vibrates at two cycles per second. Vibration, over time, creates fatigue. This, and oxidation of the hidden or encapsulated riveted joints, underscores the need to allow the red brick building to take its place in the passage of time. It needs to go. More specifically, it should be repurposed via sale to any willing buyer or renovated.

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