Crews with Tim Graham Excavating of Parkersburg began tearing down the building at 328 ½ Second St. on Wednesday. The building used to house the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and the county Maintenance Department. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG – Demolition of the former Wood County Sheriff’s Office and county Maintenance Department building at the corner of Second and Avery streets is underway.

Crews with Tim Graham Excavating of Parkersburg began tearing down the building at 328 ½ Second St. on Wednesday morning.

Bids were accepted in October to demolish the building, but electrical and other issues had to be addressed before the building could come down.

“During my whole tenure as a county commissioner, we have been struggling with that building,” Commissioner Blair Couch said.

The building has a history of roof problems, mold issues, air system issues and other concerns.

Demolition on the former Wood County Sheriff’s Office building at 328 ½ Second St., Parkersburg, began Wednesday morning. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

“It has been a maintenance nightmare,” Couch said.

Eventually, the county renovated the building now known as the Wood County Justice Center to house Magistrate Court, the sheriff’s office and more as well as an inmate holding center that is being utilized by the state.

“Everyone has been happy there,” Couch said.

For a number of years, the building at the corner of Second and Avery was used to store records and other materials from the circuit clerk, prosecutor and county clerk’s offices.

Officials went through the building over the past year and had old records removed and shredded while materials that needed to be retained locally were moved to a secure holding area at the new Wood County 911 Center.

Crews with Tim Graham Excavating began demolition on the building at the corner of Second and Avery streets that once housed the Wood County Sheriff’s Office. County officials estimate the building could be completely down by the end of the week. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

The Wood County Resiliency Center, which was completed over a year ago, included new space for the county maintenance department.

“We knew we would move our maintenance department there, and we knew we would eventually be able to do what we are doing (Wednesday),” Couch said.

So the old building has no further use and is being torn down. Part of the demolition job includes leveling out the lot. County officials said they want to create additional parking for the Resiliency Center.

Although a number of buildings have been removed from that immediate area over the years, Couch said they would continue to honor the historic Wood County Courthouse.

“No one is going to touch that one on my watch,” he said.

Crews with Tim Graham Excavating of Parkersburg began tearing down the building at the corner of Second and Avery streets on Wednesday. The building used to house the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and county Maintenance Department. It had been used for record storage for a number of years. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

Couch said he doesn’t believe anybody will miss the old sheriff’s building. Officials estimate it could be completely down by the end of the week.

“I said it when we knocked down the old jail building that not a tear was shed,” Couch said. “I don’t think a tear will be shed over this building either.

“I told the crew to save me a brick.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com