Battling a breakdown: West community copes with deteriorating structure

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Tanian Shuttler

The ol’ lady is just oozing out her animosity towards the community as she prepares to be torn down. What have you seen fall apart this year?

Tanian Schuttler, Staff Writer

Since the beginning of the school year, the old Greeley West building has been fighting against demolishment, knowing that soon it will be knocked down in its not-so-prime. With incidents such as malfunctioning fire alarms, all-day and momentary power outages, pipe bursts, and floods, Greeley West is bursting at the seams. 

Come fall and winter, the rain and melting snow will begin to seep into the cracks of the crumbling building. Principal Mr. Jeff Cranson named a few other inconveniences in the school. “The clocks keep breaking, the air conditioning is shutting down in certain rooms, leaks are happening in the vents, the ceilings are caving in, and just some normal wear and tear is going on,” Cranson said.  

Greeley West’s “normal wear and tear” is the epitome of the old building, making its deterioration known to visitors and students alike – every chance it gets. Its personality was once beautiful, but now in its old age, it is apparent that Greeley West was not made to survive this long. 

Senior Colleen Cherry said that none of these woes are new to her.  “This building has been dangerous to go to school in as long as I can remember,” Cherry said.

One can compare Greeley West to Monster House. In the movie, a creepy old man inhabits a house set for destruction. In West students’ case, it’s a cranky old principal who looks forward to the day this building is no more. n the meantime, West has its own heartbeat that is slowing day by day. What is the heart, you may ask? School spirit. And yet, in the end, she must be destroyed to become beautiful again. 

After marinating on all that this building and its residents have to offer, sophomore Astrid Garcia emphasized, “I hope I don’t get a disease from the AC mold.”

The razing of the soon-to-be-old building is unleashing wrath like never before, even for veterans like Mr. Brandon Torrez.  “I’ve been struggling because I went to the bathroom and there was no soap dispenser, so I had to spit on my hands.  Then there were no paper towels so I had to wipe my hands on my pants,” Torrez said. 

Hopefully, we all survive until March.