WEST VALLEY CITY — There’s been another casualty of the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that sent tremors throughout the Wasatch Front almost two weeks ago.
West Lake STEM Junior High, 3450 W. 3400 South, has been deemed a restricted building after inspectors found structural damage inside the school, rendering it unsafe for anyone to be inside, according to Clint Mecham, Salt Lake County Emergency Management division chief.
Mecham, while briefing the Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday, called damage “substantial” and “structural.”
“They found a wall inside ... that has partially collapsed, and that is a structural concern,” he said.
Mecham told the Deseret News the damage was reviewed by building inspectors at some point last week. Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said the damage was discovered the morning of the quake, with ceilings caved in and rubble strewn in the school’s hallways. Administrators had been in and out of the school, but no students were there due to coronavirus pandemic.
Officials are still determining whether the building is a total loss or can be repaired, so currently it’s unclear whether the school will ever open again. And even if COVID-19 school closures lift on May 1, students won’t be going back to West Lake anytime soon, according to Horsley.
“Students will not return to that facility this year,” Horsley said. “So if we were to come back to school (in May), we would continue with distance learning at West Lake Junior High.”
It’s not yet clear if or when the school district will know whether the school can be repaired or if it must be rebuilt. The Utah Division of Risk Management, Granite School District’s insurance agency, is now assessing the building and will determine next steps. It’s not clear how long those assessments will take.
“We are relying on the expertise of the state and their folks to make a decision on whether renovation will occur or a full rebuild,” Horsley said. “We hope to know something before the end of the school year. ... It could literally take a few more weeks or a few more months.”
If the school is deemed a total loss and must be rebuilt, Horsley said that could take “at least a year or two,” so school district officials are now looking for some “off-site locations” where students could be relocated in the meantime. Horsley said those options will likely be discussed at the school district’s next board meeting in May.
Horsley said it’s thanks to a strange stroke of luck that no students were in the building when the earthquake struck.
“Of the whole global pandemic, this has been the only positive that’s come of that,” he said.
Studies have found many older Utah schools are at risk of damage or even collapse in a major earthquake. Horsley said officials “feel fortunate the building is still standing.”
“I don’t think people realize that the bulk of these older school buildings were never designed to withstand an earthquake,” he said.
Horsley noted the school was remodeled about four years ago, “and frankly, it was because of that remodel the building is still standing.
“But again, it was never intended to be able to (withstand) a significant seismic event, and that’s where we’re at at this point.”
Clarification: An earlier version included information from county officials saying the building’s damage was recently discovered. School district officials say they have known about the damage since the morning of the quake.