Work started this week to safely remove and dispose of the asbestos at the former Gregory A. Hogan Catholic School in Sarnia.
St. Clair Catholic District School Board Facilities Manager Tony Montanino said the asbestos was identified in the board's designated substance report before confirmation was made.
"There are materials that are within the 1977 addition that contain asbestos," said Montanino. "It was a common material used in that time frame."
Montanino said the work will include opening and removing certain block walls.
"The floor tiles, the adhesive for the floor tiles, and then there are some small [acoustical] plaster ceiling [tiles] that need to be removed that contain asbestos as well," he said.
Montanino said most of the work will be focused in a few areas.
"It's isolated to a mechanical room and then the floor tiles are within the gymnasium and the atrium area. The older part of the building," he said.
JoBi Construction Ltd. was hired for the job, which is expected to take until the end of the month to complete.
"The contractor has mobilized," Montanino said. "Our environmental engineer will be overseeing the removal process, to ensure it continues to meet the legislative requirements so that everything's registered and properly disposed of."
He said air sampling will be done when the work is completed to ensure a safe return to the area.
The asbestos removal is necessary before additional construction activities can proceed at the Hogan Drive site.
"We're upgrading it. So they are going to be walking into an upgraded, essentially new, facility when the students and staff from Sacred Heart Sarnia are there in September 2025," Montanino said.
Students at the old Gregory A. Hogan moved into the new $24 million French Immersion school on The Rapids Parkway in March.
English students will be located at the elementary school on Hogan Drive when it reopens.