Demolition Of St. Boniface School Begins This Week

Demolition of St. Boniface School in Elgin began this week.

However, the preparations have been ongoing for about a year. Items that could be sold, salvaged and recycled were part of a steady stream of activity at the school and the students had already relocated to Pope John. 

On Tuesday, Rutjens Construction of Tilden began the final steps to dismantle the building. Step one was stripping the roof areas and hauling the debris away to isolate any asbestos. Step two was the destruction of the 3rd floor. At the end of the day, the first two floors remained.

The St. Boniface School has always been a landmark in the community of Elgin and surrounding area. During the early years of the 1900's it was a great influence in attracting Catholic families to the Elgin area. The first grade school was a wood frame structure built in 1904. This was replaced with a brick building in 1908 because enrollment was so large and the school had outgrown the original structure. In 1925, a new addition was added to accommodate high school classes and St. Boniface became a K-12 school.

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