Franklin High School – Asbestos Sends Budget Soaring -- MesoLink.org -- 07-15-05

The renovations at Franklin high school are causing some controversy at the moment, after revelations that the work will cost millions partly because a good deal of asbestos was discovered in the structure of the building. The cost is likely to be around $20 million, and city officials have now decided to fund a feasibility study, which in itself will cost a further $75,000.

Town officials have been shown a great many problems at the school. Three hundred thousand square feet of asbestos flooring will have to be ripped up and replaced for starters, and this alone will cost around $1.5 million.

In addition to this, all of the classroom doors in the school also contain asbestos, and these will have to be ripped off and replaced. One town official stated, as he looked down one corridor: "There must be 50 doors just down that corridor."

In addition to all of the asbestos being ripped up and replaced, the thirty-five year old school has to have a number of other extensive projects carried out before it is completed. It is thought that a debt exclusion override may be required over the next few years as a result of the rocketing costs of renovating the building.