Newtown, CT — Sandy Hook Elementary School will be demolished and another building will be constructed in its place. The decision was made on Friday by a taskforce in Newtown.
The panel of 28 elected officials struggled with the decision on what to do with Sandy Hook, the school where 20 first-graders and six educators lost their lives in a shooting rampage on December 14, 2012.
The choices of what to do with the building were already narrowed down to: renovating Sandy Hook Elementary School , tearing the building down and constructing another on the same site, or tearing it down and constructing a new school on nearby property.
But the taskforce came to a unanimous decision on Friday night after residents of Newtown expressed mixed opinions on what should be done with the school. The proposal will go to the local school board next, which has final authority.
Residents expressed mixed opinions on what should happen to the school, with teachers telling the taskforce it would be too traumatic to ever work at the building where so many lives were lost.
Brian Engel, whose six-year-old daughter, Olivia, was killed, stated that he and his wife wanted Sandy Hook to have a school , but not at the same location. He explained he didn’t want Olivia’s younger brother to ever walk into the building where the massacre that killed his sister took place.
Gunman Adam Lanza broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14 after killing his mother at their home in Newtown. He opened fire with an assault rifle, killing 20 children and six adults. When police arrived on the scene, he took his own life.
Despite months of investigation, police have yet to uncover a possible motive for the killings. However, they stated that Lanza expressed an interest in other mass killings and also played violent video games.
The 430 surviving students of Sandy Hook are currently attending class at a renovated school renamed for theirs in the neighboring town of Monroe. Should the school board approve the decision to demolish the old Sandy Hook Elementary building, the proposal would likely go to voters as a referendum.