James Richesin shovels more debris into the shovel of a track hoe at Blue Springs Elementary School. Workers with Hampton Backhoe Service, based in Athens, Tenn., continued the demolition of Blue Springs Elementary School in Bradley County. The school was heavily damaged by a tornado April 27, 2011.CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Demolition operations have begun at Blue Springs Elementary School, which was closed after sustaining severe damage in last year’s April 27 storms.
This week, Hampton Backhoe began salvage work on the interior of the main campus building, according to company owner Kelvin Hampton.
Memento collectors have not hesitated to approach the contractor.
“People are already asking for items,” said Hampton.
One man said his son had attended Blue Springs and asked Hampton to save a cafeteria wall brick that bore the son’s name.