SO the HS gets rid of all sorts of classes and programs and now they want to get rid of detention hall and replace it with a detention pond! This is preposterous! What is going to happen next?!?!
Bogged Down In MCHS Parking Lot Project
Pahs Road plan upsets area neighbors, while construction equipment needs help out of mud.
Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch
MICHIGAN CITY - An earth mover became stuck in front of Michigan City High School on Friday as its operator was digging a detention ponds in preparation for construction of a new parking lot.
To accommodate a new parking lot, four detention ponds are being dug to collect surface water and to control its release into ditches.
John W. Linn of the Abonmarche Group of South Bend, an architectural and engineering firm, said the new parking lot should have no effect on residents to the west of the school on Pahs Road.
Neighbors to the east will see less water than they usually do during large storms due to the controlled release, Linn said.
Ron Deutscher, who lives east of the school, worries about water in every storm.
"The sump pump is always running," he said.
His chief concern is about whether the ditches will become overwhelmed by water even with the detention pond.
Seeing the bulldozer stuck in the mud was not an encouraging sight for Deutscher.
It was pulled free by about 5 p.m. Friday.
Alan Selner of Rieth-Riley Construction said it is not unheard of for equipment to become stuck in mud.
"Especially after the kind of rain we've had," he said.
He said he's never experienced the behavior demonstrated by some people who gathered near the high school. The people were not teens, he said.
"They were chanting our name and calling us (offensive) names," he said. Many made rude gestures.
Some neighbors have voiced their objection to the new parking lot.
The decision to build a new parking lot came in response to a safety and security audit conducted by Indiana State Police.
Contact Deborah Sederberg at dsederberg@thenewsdispatch.com.