Although there wasn’t a whole lot of fuss, there were a few in the community dismayed that the start of building the new Johnson Elementary School would feature the hauling in of massive amount of earth to raise the building out of the floodplain.

 

While most understood the process, there were a handful of comments along the lines of “waste of time” and “never will get close to flooding there” that were seen on more than one social media platform of Connect-Bridgeport. Perhaps those individuals may be singing a different tune now.

 

According to City Construction Vice President Beau Henderson, the contractor for the job, it’s probably a good thing that it did take place.

 

“If we wouldn’t have raised the work site, I don’t know if we would have been in the same position (Monday) morning,” said Henderson. “The baseball field was pretty much under water, but we were fine. At best, we would have been in a much more uncomfortable situation.”

 

Count JES Assistant Principal Heather Holbert as being uncomfortable when she began to see pictures of the flooding early on Monday.

 

“My first thought (Monday) morning was did it affect the new school? The big worry is that you’re on such a tight timeline that you really can’t deal with a single setback and the water could have been a pretty significant one,” said Holbert. “I texted Beau and Brian (Henderson) and they reassured that we were good.”

 

When the project was started, the School Building Authority required the site to be raised out of the flood zone. Due to the land gradually sloping upward, Henderson said the back of the building that is going up was raised by eight feet and as the grade heads toward the front of the building it was raised roughly three and a half feet.

 

“I know a lot of people were worried, but I honestly wasn’t worried because of the height that we raised,” said Henderson. “It would take a flood perhaps of a Biblical nature for it to be a problem. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it’s going to have to be about as severe as anything anyone can remember in this area.”

 

Holbert said she’s sad to see other areas impacted in Bridgeport and beyond. She said it was tough to see the water at Bridgeport City Park, the BHS baseball field and along Wayne Jamison Field and its facilities.

 

“You feel bad when you see that even when you know you’re okay. For anyone that had the question as to why all that dirt was moved in, there’s your answer,” Holbert said. “I just hate we had to test it out this early.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows flood waters after they began receding Monday behind the new Johnson Elementary School, while Assistant Principal Heather Holbert is shown below.