This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The price tag for repairing flood damage at Sandy's Eastmont Middle School is in, and it's much higher than initially thought: $750,000.
Canyons School District spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook said that was the estimate provided by insurance adjusters after they completed their inspection of the school at 10100 S. 1300 East on Thursday.
The school, which is primarily situated inside a bowl, was inundated during the early morning hours Wednesday after an uphill irrigation sprinkler broke. The resulting cascade left up to 2 inches of water on the floors, in classrooms, the gymnasium and auditorium.
In the auditorium, water pooled around the stage, reaching a foot and a half deep at one point.
Crews had siphoned off and mopped up most of the water, mud and debris by late Thursday morning, but the damage — initially estimated at $500,000 by the Sandy Fire Department — had been done.
Bad as that was, it could have been worse, Toomer-Cook said. Most of the affected flooring was vinyl, rather than carpet, and the walls were constructed of cinder blocks rather than sheetrock.
District officials still have high hopes for having Eastmont prepared to welcome back about 1,000 students for their new school year on Aug. 20.
"That's our number one goal right now, to get everything cleaned up and dried out and ready," Toomer-Cook said.
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