The flood of September 2011 left a lot of damage in its wake, but communities across the Southern Tier have been making big steps toward recovery in recent months. As the Owego-Apalachin school district is moving forward in the building process of its new elementary school following demolition this summer, Binghamton’s MacArthur Elementary School began its demolition Tuesday. The 50-year-old building on the city’s southside started to be torn down by Gorick Construction, the same company that demolished the school in Owego. Preparation for the building’s demolition began earlier in the month, and the entire process is scheduled to take between six and eight weeks, and should end sometime in December. The new MacArthur building, which will cost just under $80 million, is expected to be opened by September of 2015. Plans for the new school have most of the building sitting farther to the south, closer to Vestal Avenue and away from the Susquehanna River. Classroom wings will be built on stilts, which will keep the rooms above the flood plain.
