Messy end for home economics

The old Home Econo-mics building on Center Street became separate, sorted piles of debris Tuesday morning as demolition began on the former high school campus’ single remaining unused facility.

Adjacent to the former New Iberia High School, now the SchoolDays El-derly Apartments complex, the structure has not been used since 1989, said Iberia Parish School Board director of business and operations Carl Leblanc.

Leblanc said the building was constructed some time in the mid-1920s and was being demolished because of location and lack of use.

“Well, we just didn’t have any use for it,” Leblanc said.

“As I recall from walking through it years ago, there were small rooms here and there, and once we moved from that campus, we only had that one building left there. We considered a few things, but nothing really panned out.”

Iberia Parish School Board President Dan Leblanc said there has been no discussion on any future use of the property.

Clint and Kyle Thibodeaux, a father and son team, worked on the site throughout the morning running heavy equipment. Clint, the father, worked the excavator, carefully pulling apart the structure and piling the debris before swinging it over to one of two containers for removal.

Using a bobcat, his son Kyle worked around the perimeter, breaking and prying up the site’s remaining sidewalks.

“This will be down in three days,” said Keith Hulin, standing near the demolition.

Hulin is the owner of the demolition company contracted by the School Board to remove the building.

“It would be faster, but we’re separating the brick from the wood,” he said.

The bricks and cement sidewalk slabs will go to a facility that uses them to create embankments and coastal support, he said, while the metals will go to his scrapyard.