I had driven to Burlington, Vermont to film the demolition of Burlington High School (BHS). I was there on February 20, 2023 because that was the date the Burlington School District gave me. Arrival time was just after 7 am. 7 am is the time Burlington allows construction to begin. Demolition falls under construction.
There was NOTHING there. No bulldozers. No wrecking balls. No vehicles. No workers. No nothing!
I don’t understand how the Burlington School District did not know the demolition date, but man, how annoying was that?
There were two pick-up trucks in the parking lot. One had a local electrician’s company logo. The other had a plow on the front. They were working inside a building the was supposed to torn down that very day.
I was looking in the door glass of A Building when one of the guys came to the door. I mentioned the school was supposed to be demolished and he said “not today”.
I’d even gone so far as to ask about filming inside. As he was about to say no, I explained why I had wanted to film a portion of B Building. B Building was the Art and Languages building. As I sat in my Latin classes, I would look at the student artwork painted on all the walls. Those students were very talented. Did you know those paintings were still there??? 40+ years later?!? I wanted to film them because those folks deserved to know their artwork was still being admired so many decades later.
That worker told me most of those paintings were gone. Those students-cum-adults had been contacted. Many had come and cut them out of the walls!! That alone should be filmed!
To determine the actual demolition date, I called EnviroVantage. This is the demo company from New Hampshire. The woman I spoke to thought it would be in mid-March. “Thought,” mind you.
I highly doubt I’ll ever be allowed to film inside again. The School District does not respond to emails nor return phone calls. It’s very depressing. Stunning, too, their lack of empathy for those who want to “walk those halls one last time”.