By TARA HETTINGER
A driver lost control and drove his van through a fence and into Silver Street Elementary, leaving the school with about $50,000 in damages.
The accident happened Wednesday at 12:19 a.m., according to police reports. It states that a van, a Ford Econoline E350, was found partially in the school.
Dave Rarick, public information officer for New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp., said the vehicle had tore through a supporting wall, damaging the classroom in the classroom/gymnasium
building of the school off Ekin Avenue. He said there were no skid marks or evidence of braking.
When police arrived, the driver was gone. The report states that a white man, about 6-feet-tall was seen fleeing the area.
The van was registered to Maurice J. Ludwick of 1716 Beechwood Ave., in New Albany, according to the report. Police went to that home and Ludwick’s roommate said he was not home. A call made to the number
listed for that address was not answered.
Rarick said facilities maintenance staff worked through the night to install a temporary support system to the roof structure to prevent a possible roof collapse. He said the city’s building commissioner also came to the scene that night to review the district’s plan.
Rarick said students have been moved to another classroom, one that had been used for a reading intervention program.
He said he’s unsure of the cost of the damage, but did say the van hit an outside air ventilator, causing it to go 10 feet into the classroom.
“We are having temporary fencing installed to separate students from the construction area. We will begin the process of demolishing the damaged areas and acquiring new materials to rebuild the wall,” Rarick said. “Our HVAC technicians have removed the unit ventilator and will prepare [a] spare unit for installation as the wall is rebuilt.”
In addition, he said the district is “securing a price for installation of ballads or a guard rail system to help ensure this will not happen again.”
Police are estimating the damage to range between $25,000 to $50,000. Rarick said the district’s insurance will pay for the repairs.
