Demolition underway at old St Mary's site
The demolition of a famous Creggan landmark got underway this week.
St. Mary's College, which has dominated the Creggan skyline for 50 years, is to be felled in a job which will last seven weeks.
The levelled site will be used as a sports area for the nearby St. Cecilia's College.
A pavilion and grass playing surface will replace the three existing buildings. The main school building will be the last to be toppled.
The ‘Journal’ was yesterday invited onto the building site to see the mammoth size of the task at hand.
A team of 20 engineers and crow-bar wielding labourers are currently on site conducting a 'soft strip' - that is the removal of all metals, wood and fittings.
The entire school is littered with broken glass and debris as builders set about removing all traces of a five story building which has been at the heart of Creggan life for as many decades.
The material, which will run into hundreds of tons, will be recycled by local salvaging firm Brickkiln. A convoy of lorries will leave the Fanad Drive site this week filled with materials for sorting and recycling.
John McLaughlin, of Brickkiln, says: "All the timber will be stripped from the buildings and as much as possible recycled. All the metals have already been removed and, then, finally a large digger will come in and punch holes in the building and nip the timbers.
"The hardest part of a job like this is considering the safety aspects. Safety has to be our number one priority."
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Weather for Derry
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 29 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
