Runoff problems plaguing Wasatch Elementary's new $44 million building

PROVO – Inside the walls of the 75-year-old, now former Wasatch Elementary, thousands of children learned and grew. If those walls could talk, they would have beautiful stories to tell. But the walls are old and potentially unsafe. After a land swap agreement with Brigham Young University, a new $44 million campus was constructed. "Children have been attending here, at the new campus, since January," Caleb Price, the Provo City School District director of communications, said. "There has been a lot of excitement. People are excited for the new school and the new location.” Out with the old, and in with the new – but now the new is crumbling. A few weeks ago, educators noticed asphalt cracking in the south parking lot, near the retaining wall. "The southwest corner started to collapse.” Price said. "So we brought back the original architects and engineers to take a closer look." Architects with the company FFKR started digging to look for potential underground leaks. What they found was significant mountain runoff water, pooling in that southwest campus spot. "It went from an 8x6 sinkhole area to now, the whole side of the big retaining wall is gone. And this fallout is happening while our kids are there," Nathan Thomas, who has a daughter attending Wasatch Elementary, said. "It makes me nervous." "I also went to Wasatch when I was a kid, and I love that my daughter now gets to make memories there," Thomas said. "My biggest concern is her safety." Thomas and other parents told KSL TV they have received numerous updates from the Wasatch Elementary faculty, assuring them that the school is structurally safe and that there are no issues surrounding the playground. Wasatch Elementary on Locust Lane is extremely close to the Y Mountain. The school is built up with a triple stacked retaining wall on the northeast side and more retaining walls on the south end, which is where the water damage construction continues. “Crews are currently in the process of rebuilding that back up, and they’ve installed more drainage," Price said. "We want to figure out what is going on and be good stewards of this taxpayer money.” The Provo City School District will host a Study Session Tuesday at 4 p.m. at 280 West 940 North in Provo. For those who want to join virtually, click here for the YouTube link. There is a School Board Business meeting at 6 p.m. following the Study Session. Both meetings are open to the public, and public comment will be heard at the 6 p.m. meeting. This School Board Meeting will feature the general contractor, Hogan Construction, and other subcontractors who built the wall. "There’s a little bit of a disagreement over financial responsibility for this, and we want to ask questions. We understand that taxpayer dollars are used to build these projects, and we want to tell our taxpayers that we’re asking the necessary questions to be good stewards of that money," Price said. The south parking lot is limited now, due to construction. Administrators said school has never been delayed or cancelled because of the retaining wall collapse.

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