Poorly designed school in Colorado raises concerns about state oversight

From The Denver Post: Revelations that a new, $18.9 million school in Meeker, Colo., was built to dangerously substandard levels have raised questions about the adequacy of Colorado's school design oversight. State officials are waiting for the results of examinations of other school construction projects before they can determine whether this was an aberration or the sign of a larger problem.

NOVEMBER 2011... from The Denver Post: A recently built grade school in Meeker (Colo.) School District RE-1is sitting empty because of mistakes by the company that designed and constructed it. Children attended classes in the $18.9 million building for an entire school year before it was deemed unsafe to occupy. The first sign that something was wrong with Meeker Elementary School came in October 2010, when dirt piled outside the gym caused a wall to lean a few inches. When an outside firm reviewed the structural integrity of the school nine months later, much deeper problems became apparent: The school had been designed with a building-code standard used for storage sheds and was at risk of collapse in severe weather. The Neenan Co., the design-and-build firm the district hired, has acknowledged making mistakes and pledged to pay for repairs.