INTERACTIVE:

August 6, 1999
Web posted at: 7:40 p.m. EDT (2340 GMT)

In this story: 'I can only go forward and prevail' Reconstruction price tag still growing RELATED STORIES, SITES

LITTLETON, Colorado (CNN) -- Reporters got their first peek Friday at what students will see when they return in 10 days to the site of a massacre -- Columbine High School.

"We want students to feel good about being back here," said Jack Swanzy, director of planning and design for the Jefferson County School District. "We've done everything we could to make sure kids can walk in here on the first day of class and not be frightened."

All evidence of the carnage caused by bullets and bombs has been cleaned and patched. Carpeting stained by blood has been removed, and furniture damaged by explosions has been replaced. One staircase was totally redesigned.

The window from which Pat Ireland -- partially paralyzed from being shot twice in the head -- made his desperate escape has been replaced.

A total of 15 people were killed during the bloody assault on April 20. Authorities have said that the two gunmen, students Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, committed suicide. But there has been speculation that one killed the other before killing himself.

An aluminum tribute to the fallen students has been erected at the school entrance leading to the cafeteria. "Through these hallways pass the finest kids in America ... the students of Columbine High School," it says.

Thousands of student-designed tiles have been put up along hallways, many of which are dedicated to classmates who died in the rampage.

The library, where so many students were trapped and killed that it was called the "killing field of Columbine," has been gutted and sealed off with a wall of lockers.

Students will be asked later to fill out surveys to determine what, if anything, should be done with the old library space. A trailer outside the school, complete with computers that have Internet access and about 1,000 books, will act as a temporary library until a permanent solution is found.

"The building's important, but it's the people and students that make the school," said Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis. "It's exciting that within two weeks Columbine will become a school again."

'I can only go forward and prevail'

The last of 16 new security cameras is in place, and a card-swipe system has been set up to replace standard door locks for after-hours entry to the school.

But, some people ask, are the survivors ready to walk back into the school on August 16?

Lance Kirklin, shot five times -- in the leg, neck and face -- said he is ready to return to the classroom.

"Yeah, it sucks that it happened to me, it sucks that it happened to anybody," said Kirklin. "But I can't change it, I can only go forward and prevail."

All students will be sporting something new at Columbine: Mandatory identification tags.

Something optional will be the tiny black and white patch that simply says: "Respect." It will be offered by the Colorado High School Activities Association as one way to promote harmony among school cliques.

The gunmen allegedly considered themselves outcasts in the school pecking order. Witnesses said Klebold and Harris singled out those who infuriated them the most -- popular athletes.

Reconstruction price tag still growing

More than $1 million has been spent so far on reconstruction of the school, some $400,000 from donations -- including labor, equipment and material.

Insurance is expected to cover more than $1.1 million worth of damage to the building and contents.

The Jefferson County School District doesn't know what the total reconstruction will be because it hasn't received all the bills yet. And additional work is scheduled to be performed during the upcoming school year.

Correspondent Anne McDermott and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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