By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
Demolition began this week on a former Arkadelphia school campus.
District officials said work began Monday, May 5, 2025 to raze Perritt Primary School, 1900 Walnut St. Asbestos abatement was performed last week.
Building new campuses and razing the old ones was part of the district’s plans during a 2015 campaign for a millage increase.
Demolitions for both Perritt and a large swath of the former Goza Middle School building, between Pine and Caddo streets, were approved at the April 15 meeting of the Arkadelphia Board of Education. During the meeting, school board members met in executive session to discuss the properties — permissible now thanks to a 2023 Arkansas state law that allows school boards to meet outside public view to discuss litigation, settlement offers, contract disputes and discussions pertaining to real property. Following the executive session, board members reconvened in public and voted unanimously to approve the demolition of both campuses.
The project was awarded to the Donaldson-based Hartsell Farms & Excavating LLC, which offered the low bid of $578,000 for both campuses, including asbestos abatement.
Hartsell Farms filed for a permit with the city’s Building Department in early May, listing a $270,000 valuation for Perritt’s demolition. The crew started demolition at the southern section of the campus.
Once the razing of Perritt is complete, Hartsell Farms will tear down the Outlaw Gym and the Tech Annex at the old Goza campus — everything contained within the block between Pine and Caddo streets and 12th and 13th streets. The cost for the Goza demolition will be $263,600.
The following article and original headline was published on Feb. 11, 2025:
Arkadelphia Public Schools eyeing demolition options for Perritt, Outlaw Gym
By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
Arkadelphia Public Schools is “examining options” for the possible demolition of some landmark buildings. District officials announced this week they’re in the market for demolition service contractors for the razing of former school buildings.
The school district posted on its website and advertised in The Southern Standard, Clark County’s newspaper of record, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the demolition of Louisa E. Perritt Primary building, 1900 Walnut St., and the old Goza Middle School Annex, Tech Annex and Outlaw Gym building at 1305 Caddo St. The RFPs do not list Goza’s main school building.
Perritt Primary School
The scope of the Perritt demolition includes the main 44,646-SF campus of the former school building, as well as the 3,750-SF gym, a small wooden cabin and two portable classrooms. The district isn’t asking for the north parking lot to be taken up.
Named in honor of longtime Clark County public health nurse Louisa E. Perritt, the land where the former school building sits was once the site of Perritt’s home. According to Clark County Arkansas: Past and Present, Perritt sold 15 acres of her land to the school district in 1959. The primary school that was built on the property served youngsters for more than six decades. The campus officially closed at the end of the 2023-2024 school year; the newly constructed Peake Elementary School now serves students in grades K-4.
Goza Middle School Annex/John Outlaw Gymnasium
The scope of the Goza demolition includes the 12,561-SF annex, the Tech Annex and gymnasium totaling 37,335-SF on the north side of the former Goza Middle School campus. Demolition does not include any parking lots.
Erected in 1956, the former Goza Middle School (once Goza Junior High School) was named after longtime Superintendent L.M. Goza, who served the district from 1925 until 1958. The main campus, located on the south side of Caddo Street, currently houses some administrative offices; the district has no current plans to raze the main campus. Across the street from the main campus sits the Outlaw Gymnasium, named after the late John Outlaw, who, during his nine-year stint as head coach, led the Badgers to two state football championships, in 1979 and 1987, according to Rex Nelson’s Southern Fried blog. The facility, built in 1964, served as a physical education building before it was named in Outlaw’s honor.
Goza Middle School moved its operation to the west side of town when a new campus was erected in 2019 across the parking lot from Arkadelphia High School. Goza serves students in grades 5-8.
‘Exploring options’
District officials said that, while the RFPs are out, there’s no guarantee the buildings will come down.
“Right now we are just exploring options,” Jimmy King, director of support services, told The Arkadelphian. “We’re looking at what it would cost to demo those buildings versus selling the buildings or land.” King said the facilities have outlived their life expectancy, and they don’t meet the warm/safe/dry requirements for student use.
King added that the maintaining the district’s older buildings comes at a cost whether they are being used or not. Vacant buildings, he pointed out, can be targets for vandals or squatters. Perritt, for instance, was broken into and vandalized in September 2024. Further, King added, potential buyers of school property likely have no use for the buildings themselves, and, as evidenced by the selling of Central Primary School, the buyer would be left with a dilapidated building and the additional cost of demolition.
King reiterated that, “just because we’re taking bids [to demolish the buildings], it doesn’t mean we will.” King said, however, that two contractors have expressed interest in the demolition projects since the district posted the RFPs on Monday, Feb. 10.
Asbestos abatement will be included in the contractor’s bid and conducted by the contractor or a sub-contractor. The district notes in its RFP that most asbestos containing material was abated in the early 1980s, and what is left is minimal and contained in old floor tile or a fire transite panels.
Contractors may obtain an RFP from the district’s administrative office by calling King at 870-246-5564 Ext. 1203, or online. The district is asking contractors to submit two separate bids for the demolitions. Proposals are due by Feb. 28.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
