Havnier says engineering assessment will see what parts of structure are salvageable; it could take up to a year to finish and cost millions ‘into tens of millions’

Crews at North Medford High School have started breaking down the north and east walls of the school’s gymnasium — which collapsed Feb. 11 due to approximately 700,000 pounds of snowfall buildup on the gymnasium roof — with workers using a concrete wall saw Tuesday to begin demolition efforts and following up with heavy machinery to tear down portions of the structure chunk by chunk.

Medford School District staff expect the demolition to take about a month to complete, which will mostly involve construction crews breaking down the walls on the north and east sides to get a better idea of the damage and assess what renovations will be necessary.

“Today, they’re going to open up this north side and this east side corner where they can start accessing the debris on the inside,” said Ron Havniear, director of safety and security with the district. “Yesterday, they did a lot of assessment with the engineers and shored up all these walls to make sure that they’re not falling (unexpectedly) as they pull them down.”

Before fully exploring rebuilding plans, school district staff are awaiting an engineering assessment to determine whether or not any portions of the building are salvageable.

“They’re going to have to look at the stress that the other portion of the building went through and make sure that it’s structurally sound,” Havniear said.

The assessment will focus on “two things: one, what happened, and two, what can we do to preserve what’s still left,” Havniear added.

Staff anticipate the engineering assessment will take around two weeks to be completed before being presented to school district leadership and the public.

The school district is optimistic that sections of the building — locker rooms, the weight room, the main entryway and other parts — could be restored, which could ease costs without needing a total rebuild.

“The two-thirds (on the south and west sides of the gym) that’s left are still intact,” Havniear said.

The gym reconstruction, whether it’s a full or partial rebuild, is projected to cost millions.

“We don’t know what that cost is going to be until we know the scope of work (to be done); it will definitely be several million dollars, in the tens of millions,” Havniear said. “Insurance has committed to the full replacement cost, so we have a $100,000 deductible, and we’ll be on the hook for that $100,000, and then we’ll work closely with our insurance team to make sure they cover the rest of this.”

School district staff are expecting the reconstruction to take about a year to finish the project.

“It’s pretty likely that (students will) start the school year without the full gym, but we’ll know more soon,” Havniear said, adding, “When you look at some of the gyms across the state that have collapsed under snowload, it’s taken about a year to get that rebuild.”

Currently, staff are planning to fundraise for and set up a temporary or semi-temporary structure that can be used by students for physical education and other activity needs.

North Medford High School athletics will continue at Oakdale Middle School or other locations within the district.

“We have relationships with the city (of Medford) and for Rogue X and things like that if we need to,” Havniear said.

For more information on the gym collapse, see north.medford.k12.or.us/news/posts-details/~board/medford-school-district-news/post/north-medford-gym-roof-collapse-feb-11-2025-frequently-asked-questions.

“We ask for the patience of the community, and I do appreciate those who’ve been supportive,” Havniear said. “Nobody wants this to happen, but this is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and school district and build this thing back.”

Reach reporter James Sloan at jsloan@rv-times.com.