Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design, talks to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about improvements coming to Madison Elementary. The school will get a new sprinkler system throughout the building, additions that will accommodate an additional 150 students and additional entrance and exit points to help relieve vehicle congestion. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG – Madison Elementary is getting renovations and improvements that aim to modernize the school, accommodate more students and improve both learning spaces and safety.

Pickering Associates CEO and President Ryan Taylor and Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design, spoke to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about these projects.

The pair said renovations will increase the school’s size from 32,000 to approximately 42,000 square feet, while modernizing facilities to better serve current and future students. Taylor said although the school is increasing in size this doesn’t mean the property line is going to move.

“We are not increasing property size by any inch. So we are not buying any houses. We are not increasing the property line. So that’s important, people understand that,” Taylor said.

The expansion is designed to bring 150 additional students to Madison Elementary after the closure of Fairplains Elementary at the start of this school year.

Wood County Board of Education member Judy Johnson and Superintendent Christie Willis look at computer renderings from Pickering Associates Tuesday of what the new additions and renovations for Madison Elementary could look like. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Renovations include rearrangement of classrooms and floor plan updates to meet ADA guidelines and make the layout of classes more streamlined, replacement of 115 windows and a new cafeteria and kitchen to house the additional students.

“We’re needing roughly 2000 square feet for a new cafeteria… We’re adding the kitchen and cafeteria to the project, and then renovating the existing kitchen and cafeteria into classrooms,” Cottrill said. “The existing music classroom is in a portable behind the building, so there will be a dedicated music room inside of the facility. And the portable will be removed with this project.”

Plans also include adding new ways in and out of the school. Special attention is being paid to improving vehicle and bus access to the campus–a long-standing source of frustration for families and neighbors.

“Currently there’s one entrance and exit to the property,” Cottrill said. “So we’re looking at alternate routes to improve vehicle congestion, queue and flow, and try to keep busses and parent drop-off from merging together as much as possible.”

The new plans incorporate an expanded “horseshoe” entrance from Dudley Avenue, a turn only lane off of Dudley and a dedicated entrance and exit for younger students.

“Now that we’ve moved all of the young kids–the pre-K and first–we’re going to have a dedicated exit for them, so we’ll have their playground area, plus their entrance and exit,” Taylor said. “And if we were able to, with the budget, you could have that bus drop-off for the younger kids on that end.”

Taylor said the bid for these projects will go out this week and will be open for four weeks. He said construction will be scheduled to start in January,with the project broken into three phases and expected completion by May 2027–all within a $5.5 million probable cost. Taylor said construction would not interfere with instructional time for students.

The pair also talked briefly about other bond projects including the construction of the new Vienna Elementary that will be built on the former Ohio Valley University campus, now the new West Virginia University at Parkersburg Innovation and Technology Center. Taylor said bidding for that project should go out in December now that the district has possession of the property.

West Virginia University at Parkersburg President Torie Jackson, on behalf of the college’s foundation, presented the board Tuesday night with a donation of eight acres that the district will use to build the new elementary.

Board President Justin Raber said he was excited to begin a partnership with the college.

“We’re truly looking forward to this partnership, as well as the great things that the university and the foundation are doing up at that center,” Raber said. “It’s truly a, you know, once in a lifetime opportunity here and throughout the state.”

The new school will encompass approximately 54,000 square feet, providing space for 522 students.

Jackson said she was also excited about the partnership.

“Because when we improve education at all levels, we’re definitely improving our community. So it’s our pleasure,” Jackson said.

Taylor also talked about the construction of the new Lincoln Elementary. He said with foundational work underway and demolition clearing the way for further construction, the new building is rapidly taking shape.

“This one, they just got started about three weeks ago, so they’ve done a lot of site work,” Taylor said.

Superintendent Christie Willis said a groundbreaking event is scheduled for Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. for the Lincoln project.

Willis also reminded everyone Thanksgiving break for students will run from Nov. 24-28 this year.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com