The Evergreen Village flood mitigation project is now in the demolition phase. According to DeKalb County Planning Director Paul Miller, there are several parts to this, including the removal of asbestos on more than a dozen homes.
Miller says demolition of mobile homes has been underway since October. Approximately 40 units have been removed. The county is working toward having the site cleared and cleaned by the end of May 2015.
What's next for the property is unclear. It must remain an open space. Miller says one idea is to transfer the property to the DeKalb County Forest Preserve District. However, nothing has been finalized yet, and potential uses will be determined in the coming months.
Closure Takes Toll On School District
Ryan Janisch, principal of North Grove Elementary School where most of the Evergreen Village children attended, says 45 students have left since the last school year. He says a couple of students opted to stay through this school year but will move elsewhere in the district next year.
He says he has a good idea where many of the students are now living, since their new schools contacted North Grove to learn more about the kids.
Janisch says staff knew for some time that the mobile home park would be closing, "but it didn't make it any easier." Janisch said.
"When you know students to the depth that our staff know students, it doesn't matter if you know that goodbye is coming," Janisch said. "It is still a difficult one. For those kids that were really upset--just going to miss people -- I don't know that our staff was fully prepared for that. They helped each other, supported each other, and we know they are doing well in their new location."
He says the transition was also difficult for the students who did not live at Evergreen Village.
"Our students really felt the change of their friends moving away. They never understood what was happening or why. They just knew 'my friend [whomever] was leaving,' and they were sad about that."
Janisch says when the topic came up, teachers didn't shy away from it.
"We just reassured them that the great things about schools are they are filled with people who care about kids, and although we can't go with you to where you are going, on the other side of that move, there's another great group of people who are going to care about you just like we do." -- Ryan Janisch North Grove Elementary School Principal
He says things got better as families made new living arrangements.
"Most of the students that demonstrated some type of anxiety about the move-- once they saw their new home, once they actually made the move and they were actually able to see their new house, they were at a different level of calm," he said. "They could picture it, they knew where they were going, and those nerves kind of dissipated. "
