Workers to Demolish Former San Clemente School on Monday

Contractors are getting ready to tear down the old San Clemente School to make way for the brand new Cove School.

Larkspur-Corte Madera School District Superintendent Valerie Pitts said the demolition will kick off around 8 a.m. on Monday, and should take a few days. Construction of the new, $19 million school will begin soon after on the same site as part of a wider, $40 million modernization project funded primarily through Measure A, a bond that voters passed in 2011 to combat rising enrollment.

The project goes hand-in-hand with upgrades at Hall Middle School and Neil Cummins Elementary School.

The former San Clemente School closed in the early 1980’s when enrollment was declining, and for years the district leased the building to the private French school Lycee Francais. 

“We made a decision to reopen another school due to enrollment growth,” Pitts said. Lycee Francais closed in June and relocated to Sausalito to free up the space.

The 35,000-square-foot public school will accommodate 325 students, and is scheduled to be complete by fall 2014. Work will include new classroom buildings, a multi-use room, library, performing arts studio and classroom, learning center, student services suite, warming kitchen and adjacent servery, art courtyard and site improvements.

During construction the school entrance from Golden Hind Passage will be closed to non-construction traffic, but the fields, volleyball and basketball courts and bathrooms will remain open to the public.