黑料社入口

The old Loris High School will soon be gone, but it won鈥檛 be forgotten.

As the demolition of the dilapidated century-old school nears an end, contractors have been able to preserve a trio of old plaques stamped into the concrete facade, Loris City Council learned at its monthly meeting on Monday, April 7.

鈥淲e were able to save the plaques,鈥� said Dawn Schoolcraft of Asbestos Inspections, LLC of Conway, who has been handling the asbestos removal at the old school and keeping the council updated on the progress of the demolition.聽

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One of the plaques features an open book with a quill pen to signify scholarship, while the other two read 鈥淗igh School 1930鈥� and 鈥淎uditorium 1930鈥� and mark the date of the building鈥檚 construction.

The artifacts will be used to commemorate the site of the old complex, the alma mater for generations of Loris residents.

鈥淲e鈥檒l incorporate those into some type of monument memorializing the old high school,鈥� Mayor Mike Suggs said.

But residents seeking a souvenir from their old school are being advised against entering the site to snatch a souvenir brick.

鈥淲e are having a lot of people from the public trying to get our bricks; they cannot do that,鈥� Schoolcraft said, noting it would be a violation of South Carolina Department of Public Health regulations because the bricks have been contaminated with asbestos.

鈥淚f people would refrain from that, it would be very helpful,鈥� Schoolcraft told the council.

The plaques were tested and cleaned to remove all asbestos, rendering them safe for display, Schoolcraft said.

Built at the start of the Great Depression off Highway 701, the two-story brick building served high school students for nearly six decades, before a new high school was built on the edge of town in 1988. It reopened several years later for elementary school students while a new primary school was being built, and the final bell rang in 1996.

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The building had been allowed to fall into disrepair under private ownership, after the Horry County School District sold it as surplus in the late 1990s. The roof had collapsed over the main section of the building, rendering it unrepairable, and the presence of asbestos complicated the demolition.

Loris purchased the old school, outbuildings and the 17-acre tract of land it sits on in 2023 as part of a settlement of the lawsuit the city had filed against the former owner, demanding that it be razed or repaired.

When the final section of the building is removed and the ground is leveled, the city council must decide how the property will be redeveloped.

The demolition, which is being conducted by JMEC Construction of Georgetown, should be completed by the end of the month, Schoolcraft said after the meeting.