Kaleb Lawrence, assistant superintendent of operations, talked to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about bond projects going on throughout the district. Lawrence talked about the demolition of VanDevender, projects at Madison Elementary and a visit to Lubeck Elementary to speak to students about their new school. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education voted Tuesday night to award GraeCon Construction with the $6.7 million bid for the Madison Elementary renovations. GraeCon was also awarded the bids for three alternates bringing the total for all of Madison’s renovations to $7,509,530.

Those alternates include plans to incorporate an expanded “horseshoe” entrance from Dudley Avenue, a turn-only lane off Dudley and a dedicated entrance and exit for younger students.

The board, however, elected to hold off on construction for the horseshoe as a way to plan ahead and avoid future price increases.

“We would like to take that alternate, lock in the pricing, but pay for that out of the county paving budget that we do every year,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said the horseshoe entrance would be the last project completed but that the Dudley Avenue exit could be something the district constructs sooner.

Lawrence said the city engineer for Parkersburg has confirmed the rear exit is feasible based on existing street plans, and is coordinating with Hope Gas on a gas line lease.

“They are working on getting a lease with Hope Gas, because there’s a gas line that runs parallel to that,” he said.

Lawrence said the VanDevender building is nearly down and that demolition is not slowing Lincoln Elementary’s construction.

“It’s very close to totally being on the ground,” Lawrence said. “They had several trucks there hauling stuff out today, so they’re making very good progress.”

He said a new six-inch water main and construction tap are being installed by the city on the site. He said construction on the new Lincoln Elementary has begun with concrete work underway.

“They poured 102 yards of concrete today,” Lawrence said. “They probably have another 150 yards to pour to finish that up… they are moving along very quickly, doing a great job.”

Lawrence said staff at Lubeck Elementary partnered with Pickering Associates CEO and President Ryan Taylor and Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design, to teach pre-K students about the new school being built for them. He said the session included photos, videos and discussion of construction equipment.

“They were really excited about bulldozers, dump trucks and excavators,” Lawrence said. “Overall, it was a fantastic thing. And they really enjoyed the staff. They had great questions.”

He said one of the major questions students had was what kind of outdoor facilities they would have.

“Playgrounds was a major question asked. They want a giant playground,” Lawrence said. “We did tell the teachers, when the weather’s nice, we can maybe arrange a field trip out there. So they’re really excited just to see how the school’s put together, how it’s built.”

He said at the site itself, construction continues as crews are managing dirt and weather issues, including tents and heaters to keep masonry work within temperature limits.

“Overall, it is coming along well,” Lawrence said. “There have been some setbacks and delays… the weather really plays a factor.”

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com