FERRIDAY — A former edifice to learning, the old Ferriday Junior High School is now an empty and moldering structure waiting for its end — an end that begins Monday.

At the Concordia Parish School Board meeting Thursday night, building and grounds committee member Raymond Riley said demolition of the building — unused for approximately five years now — will begin next week.

The property will be demolished at a total cost of $84,918, district Business Manager Tom O’Neal said.

Demolition will begin with the removal of asbestos from the building.

“There’s not that much asbestos in there,” O’Neal said. “There’s some in the tile and some in the eaves.”

The asbestos removal will be done by Gulf Services Contracting, of Mobile, Ala., the company contracted to do the demolition once the removal is completed.

The building was erected in the early 1950s, and was last used as a campus for the Concordia Education Center, O’Neal said.

The school board voted in 2006 to demolish the building, and gave the final go-ahead in April.

The board opted for demolition because the unused building has fallen into such disrepair that it is cheaper to destroy it than to make the necessary repairs to bring it up to building code standards.

All of the electrical wires and fixtures have been pulled out of the building, tiles are popping out of the floor, the roof is in danger of caving in on one end and there is reported evidence of people sleeping in the building.