Row housing demolition begins near Maxwell Elementary Published July 16, 2010 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- As part of the housing privatization initiative at Maxwell, 102 units of row housing and duplexes near Maxwell Elementary School will soon be torn down. Bob Miller, Hunt Building Company project superintendent, said work has begun on Magnolia Street, and a chain-link fence surrounding the area to be demolished went up this week. The streets in the area, including Catalpa beyond the education office parking lot, Andrews, McNarney, Spruce, Alder and Barnes were permanently closed. "We should be back to green space by the end of the year," he said. "We have found some unexpected asbestos problems, but that should only cause a slight delay." Mr. Miller said the demolition area is unavoidably in the path of Maxwell Elementary students, so he asks parents to inform their children of the danger. "We are very conscience of the school's proximity to the demolition area, and our highest priority is the safety of the children. And we will take all the help we can get from parents in asking their children not to come into the area," he said. "There is going to be heavy equipment and a lot of debris, and they could easily get hurt." Louis Warren, project quality control director, said HBC employees started putting in sidewalks along Magnolia Street as paths for children. School resumes Aug. 6. Mr. Warren said that once the land is cleared and greened, it will be returned to Maxwell-Gunter and become part of the base's property inventory. "There are rumors it might be used as a sports complex, but at this point, those are just rumors," he said. Mr. Warren said Catalpa Street will be the access to the demolition zone but will be off-limits to base traffic. Magnolia Street will be open as the access to the elementary school's entrance on Hanley Street. Mr. Miller said the row housing was built in the 1940s, while the duplex units were built in the 1970s.