Georgia Military College made history again Friday as demolition began on the old Main Barracks building to make way for a new inclusive prep school building on the historic campus.

GMC President Maj. Gen. Peter Boylan operated a backhoe and officially began the demolition of the building in preparation for a months long building plan that will result in a new building that will house all of the prep school under one roof for the first time.

The state-of-the art facility will house 38 classrooms for grades six through 12 at the school.

“This will be an example of the finest technology in education,” Boylan said. “GMC continues to move forward. Thank you all.”

Boylan’s remarks came after he climbed aboard a heavy-duty track-driven backhoe and tore out a portion of the second and first floors. His demolition work was greeted by cheers from GMC cadets, faculty, staff, alumni and onlookers.

Although alumni aren’t scheduled to arrive at GMC until next weekend, some alumni took advantage of the demo work to keep a piece of the school so many find sentimental.

“Some alumni took windows from the building for keepsakes,” demolition superintendent Tim Pilgrim said.

Pilgrim will oversee the demolition phase of the project which will result in demolition and removal of the debris from Main Barracks and Vinson Hall, plus removal of underground infrastructure topped off with a final rough grading of the land in preparation for the construction phase to begin in January. Skanska USA Building Inc. will handle the project.

“Both buildings will be down by October 17 and it will take two to three weeks to remove them,” Pilgrim said.

Robert Gray with ABC Disposal will handle the actual demolition work. ABC Disposal is working as a subcontractor of Skanska.

“There will be around 7,000 tons of debris,” Gray said. “There will be seven or eight people working the demo not including the hauling.”

The debris will be hauled to an Ogden Rd. inert landfill by Curly’s Waste of Eatonton.

“We like to use local firms as much as possible,” Pilgrim said. “It helps the local economy as well as the state economy.”

School monuments and plaques were removed from the buildings before demolition began but one alumnus felt he needed something else of sentimental value.

Chemistry teacher and GMC alumnus Shep Little took a toilet from Main Barracks.