# $50M to rebuild Newtown? Seriously? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338 "2013-10-15T19:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/1 "2013-10-15T19:46:10Z")
[This article](http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-keep-school-demolition-under-wraps-181425191.html) raises several questions: 1. Doesn’t $50M seem a tad high? 2. Is a new school really necessary? We’ve never needed to do this for past tragedies (think Columbine). 3. Pulverize the remains? The conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/2 "2013-10-15T19:55:58Z")
This is bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/3 "2013-10-15T20:01:20Z")
According to [this](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/06/new-sandy-hook-elementary-school-newtown-50-million_n_4053643.html), the decision to demolish the school was made by local officials. It’s unclear whether that was decided before or after the state offered $50 million for the project. It certainly seems strange, and wasteful. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/4 "2013-10-15T20:09:19Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > 1. Doesn’t $50M seem a tad high? Extremely. I just had a look on Google and going by the first few results $10 million would be a more reasonable construction cost for a school that size. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/5 "2013-10-15T20:30:55Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > 1. Is a new school really necessary? But keeping the old school would make kids feel bad! Won’t _someone_ think of the _children?_ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/6 "2013-10-15T20:31:12Z")
It occurred to me that the school may be concerned about souvenir hunters wanting to sell chunks of the school on eBay, that kind of thing. But FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS to avert this? This is just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/7 "2013-10-15T20:34:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > But keeping the old school would make kids feel bad! Won’t _someone_ think of the _children?_ :mad: We’re talking about an elementary school, so they _should_ think of the children. Paying a huge amount of money to eliminate every trace of it? As distasteful as the idea of people taking souvenirs is, that doesn’t make much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/8 "2013-10-15T20:53:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > We’re talking about an elementary school, so they _should_ think of the children. Paying a huge amount of money to eliminate every trace of it? As distasteful as the idea of people taking souvenirs is, that doesn’t make much sense. In two or three years, it would fade into the background if allowed (but there will undoubtedly be annual remembrances). Personally, I’d keep the school and put up a nice plaque ‘in memory of the students and staff who lost their lives’ and go from there. Alternatively, instead of pulverizing the school to thwart macabre souvenir hunters, sell the pieces on Ebay. Then you’d at least have a list of names of sick pricks. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/9 "2013-10-15T21:04:05Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It occurred to me that the school may be concerned about souvenir hunters wanting to sell chunks of the school on eBay, that kind of thing. But FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS to avert this? This is just weird. At the very least the district itself should sell chunks of the school to help offset the costs of the new school. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/10 "2013-10-15T21:06:33Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > In two or three years, it would fade into the background if allowed (but there will undoubtedly be annual remembrances). I’m not sure that’s true, and in the meantime I really don’t have a problem with the children who went there and had their classmates killed getting to go to a different school. Of course this is not the only way to accomplish that. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > At the very least the district itself should sell chunks of the school to help offset the costs of the new school. Eww. No, they shouldn’t. And they were given a special grant to offset the costs of the new school, so they don’t have to offset the costs. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/11 "2013-10-15T21:11:21Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Extremely. I just had a look on Google and going by the first few results $10 million would be a more reasonable construction cost for a school that size. For a building only, perhaps. Total costs can be much higher. [This page](http://www.wbez.org/story/elementary-school-construction-costs-cps-vs-uno-92103)indicates a cost of $30-50M. Many costs assume the land, area improvements like parking and access roads, utilities, etc. are more or less in place. Building a school from scratch in a small semi-rural town can make no such assumptions. Also consider that the demolished school will have costs and may not have any salvageable value if the town does not attempt to sell the property to rebuild for another purpose. Walk into any unimproved area of any town and plant a school flag and see if the costs are much less than quoted above. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/12 "2013-10-15T21:20:43Z")
The remodeling of Columbine High School - relatively modest rebuilding and reshaping to turn the cafeteria area into a memorial garden and build a replacement in another area - was a $15M project. That’s with no costs or changes to most of the school, the surrounding facilities, parking, access, utilities etc. Just a moderately large renovation of the school center. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/13 "2013-10-15T22:15:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > For a building only, perhaps. Total costs can be much higher. [This page](http://www.wbez.org/story/elementary-school-construction-costs-cps-vs-uno-92103)indicates a cost of $30-50M. Those are much larger schools than Sandy Hook - 50% to 100% larger. > [@](#): > > Many costs assume the land, area improvements like parking and access roads, utilities, etc. are more or less in place. They _are_ in place. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/14 "2013-10-15T23:11:18Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > In two or three years, it would fade into the background if allowed (but there will undoubtedly be annual remembrances). > > Personally, I’d keep the school and put up a nice plaque ‘in memory of the students and staff who lost their lives’ and go from there. > > Alternatively, instead of pulverizing the school to thwart macabre souvenir hunters, sell the pieces on Ebay. Then you’d at least have a list of names of sick pricks. And like I’ve said before and will say again, if this had been an inner-city school, it would have disappeared from the news faster than the story about the UFO over O’Hare Airport. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/15 "2013-10-15T23:36:36Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And like I’ve said before and will say again, if this had been an inner-city school, it would have disappeared from the news faster than the story about the UFO over O’Hare Airport. Speculation is fun and easy, but can you cite a comparable adult-perpetrator mass shooting in an inner-city school that promptly disappeared from the news? ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/16 "2013-10-16T09:17:51Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Speculation is fun and easy, but can you cite a comparable adult-perpetrator mass shooting in an inner-city school that promptly disappeared from the news? exactly…most inner city school shootings are due to gang violence,not random sociopaths deciding it would be fun to shoot up places… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/17 "2013-10-16T12:16:54Z")
Hmm… armored doors and walls, mine fields, sophisticated weapons detectors, rooftop anti-aircraft … These things add up! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/18 "2013-10-16T15:47:17Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Speculation is fun and easy, but can you cite a comparable adult-perpetrator mass shooting in an inner-city school that promptly disappeared from the news? I consider this to be close enough. > **[Red Lake shootings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lake_massacre)** > > The Red Lake shootings was a spree killing that occurred on March 21, 2005, at two locations on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, United States. That afternoon at 2pm, 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed his grandfather (an Ojibwe tribal police sergeant) and his grandfather's girlfriend at their lakeside home. After taking his grandfather's police weapons and bulletproof vest, Weise drove his grandfather's police vehicle to Red Lake Senior High School, where he had been a stude... I’m really surprised that a white supremacist has not tested this theory. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/19 "2013-10-16T15:52:47Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I consider this to be close enough. > > [Red Lake shootings - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lake_massacre) > > I’m really surprised that a white supremacist has not tested this theory. ☹ Close enough, eh? Let’s see…instead of an adult shooting 6-year-olds, it’s a 16-year-old shooting other teens. Much less sensationalism right there. And what happened to “inner-city”? Red Lake has a population of 1,731. Even if we ignored the differences in the shooting, you’d have shown that it’s _rural_ problems that get ignored, not urban ones. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338/20 "2013-10-16T16:02:03Z")
This is the second time I’ve seen the claim here that the Red Lake shooting “disappeared from the news.” What are you talking about? I was 1,300 miles away and clearly recall a series of stories in my area media. As far as I know, everything newsworthy was covered. What more do you want? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50m-to-rebuild-newtown-seriously/671338.md?page=2)