THE only lesson the former Our Lady of the Rosary College at Tamworth has to offer these days, is what an eyesore and potential hazard can look like following vandalism that will cost its owners a quarter of a million dollars to repair.
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Located on Warral Rd, it's been almost three years since children officially ran the corridors of the school, and about nine months since Newcastle-based Australian Demolition Industries (ADI) bought the facility from the Armidale Catholic diocese.
In that time the empty school has gone from bad to worse to wasteful eyesore status.
A chain link fence, supposedly to keep people off the property, has been cut and an opening of a couple metres allows easy entry.
Every window in the school has been smashed, carpet and flooring ripped up and destroyed, walls kicked in and obscenities scrawled in the place of kids' art and educational posters.
Doors to every classroom, office and hall are wide open, and the former school hall now houses a makeshift bike and skateboard playground.
Glass litters almost every section of the grounds, the rest scattered with paper, rubbish, and building materials.
No room has been untouched by vandals.
ADI director Tony Fenwick estimates the damage wreaked by the vandals tops $250,000.
"We have had assessors up here and it looks like a quarter of a million dollars worth of damage, from people smashing it up."
Mr Fenwick said it would be unviable at this stage to repair the damage. "We have put up security fencing and it gets ripped down, the police have come out here and charged people but it has not stopped the vandalism," he said.
The site was originally earmarked for a Coledale-based centre and was then optioned for use as a retirement home. Mr Fenwick said he had met with the Coledale Action Group a number of times and they had been uncooperative about a long-term plan.
In the next two weeks he says there will be a "definitive concrete decision" on the use of the school and the grounds will get a new lease of life. He says there are also plans to remove the asbestos from the existing buildings.
Those plans will please Tamworth Regional Council, which has been able to do little about the vandalised site.
Cr Russell Webb said he hadn't heard anything about the school for some time, and was surprised to hear of its further dilapidated state.
"It's a shame to hear. But even if council can step in, I know the process will be a long-winded one," Cr Webb said. "At the very least, ADI should be working quickly to fix the fence and block access at the school."
Cr Warren Woodley had hoped to transform the school into a Salvation Army drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.
Just after the school came on the market, Cr Woodley said he had lobbied the Salvation Army to consider the facilities, but to no avail.
"I haven't heard anything about the building for some time, but surely something has to be done soon," he said.
"It's truly a sad indictment on our society, when we need to demolish a multi-million dollar infrastructure just because we can't stop people from trashing it." Tenders for the sale of an adjoining 23 hectares still owned by the Armidale Catholic Diocese closed yesterday.
The area is zoned rural and McCarthy Catholic School principal Paul McDougall said interest from prospective buyers had been good. If a sale was made, proceeds would be put towards covering the loans for the new school located off Tribe St in North Tamworth.
