Credit to Haley Beffa

The original FHN Building gets demolished, having started in August 2024. The 41-year-old building that was originally a middle school faced multiple issues including electricity, plumbing and air conditioning malfunctions, and was overdue for a new finish.

Starting in August, the old FHN started to get demolished. After the opening of the new building, the construction team started the deconstruction of the science wing on the far left side of the building. Teachers and staff reminisce on their time in the old building, talking about the small trinkets or items that they got to bring over, and what they’ll miss most about it.

“There were some unique features of the old building that I hadn’t really seen anywhere else,” Principle Jefferey Fletcher said. “There was just a lot of history in parts of that building that unfortunately couldn’t come with us.”

The building faced some minor setbacks in the process of being demolished. Chemicals that were left over in the science wing sparked a fire, and the process of sorting the rubble into separate piles has pushed back the official end date of construction.

“They had to go in and remove different things from there before they could tear it down to meet specific state and federal guidelines,” Fletcher said.

The building is expected to be completely torn down by late December to early January, but will still have to be leveled out before anything is put in there. The new space is expected to hold fields for activities like soccer and track, with the new guest stadiums expected to open by spring of 2025, and the fields by fall of the same year.

“We’re looking forward to them leveling it,” Assistant Principal Monica Perry said. “It’ll be pretty, green fields on that side of campus.