Olivia Reeder, West Virginia University of Parkersburg vice president of instructional advancement, talked to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about the college's Riverhawk Ready program, which aims to help students with the enrollment process. The board also heard about the Parkersburg High School visitor side bleachers project and the reorganization of the Information Technology Department. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — The aging visitor-side bleachers at Parkersburg High School’s historic stadium are set for a comprehensive renovation, after multiple unsuccessful bid cycles.

“The community needs the job finished at a high level. So I’m excited that this board has taken action,” Ryan Taylor, CEO of Pickering Associates, said.

Taylor, along with Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design, talked to the board about the project, saying plans included rebuilding deteriorated bleachers with a reduced but more comfortable seating capacity, upgrading the façade with historically appropriate window treatments, replacing old halogen lights with LED systems, and adding fire sprinklers on the west side. It will also convert Building 413 into a modern, gender-neutral visitor locker room with restrooms, training space, storage, renovated HVAC; and infrastructure for a future uses, while reworking site parking, adding Americans with Disabilities Act spaces and improving access and campus security around the stadium.

“We are looking… (at) target bid opening of June 3, 2026, and approval for the Board of Education meeting on June 23, 2026,” Cottrill said. “So that would put a construction schedule at roughly 14 months to get that complete before the 2027-28 football season.”

Kaleb Lawrence, assistant superintendent of operations, reported progress on major construction projects at Madison, Lubeck, and Lincoln elementary schools and the Parkersburg South High School softball and baseball complex.

Lawrence said through value engineering and careful contingency management, Lincoln alone has seen about $1.6 million in savings, with the total projected cost now roughly $2 million below the original contract; and similar cost-saving adjustments are underway at Lubeck and Madison despite weather and soil challenges. He highlighted community and student involvement, including CT students building a ticket booth and plans to preserve historic Madison Elementary letters, emphasizing that the bond projects are a shared community effort.

“This bond is really a community project, and everybody’s involved in doing it,” Lawrence said. “And everybody’s taking a lot of pride in it.”

Board members did raise concerns, however, about how to handle excess dirt generated at the Lubeck construction site.

Debbie Hendershot asked why the district should pay for what appeared to be “somebody else’s mistake.” Taylor said the excess material was anticipated in the original drawings and bid, but the contractor tried to place it within a limited boundary where it would not fit and then sought extra payment when told it had to be placed elsewhere on the property. He said that while the board would “probably win” in litigation, it would cause delays, arguing that following the engineering plan is “the best outcome for the county” because it preserves the budget and creates more usable, valuable land.

“There will be no future change orders (for the dirt removal), no matter who’s right,” Taylor said. “The board will not have to experience this again. However, you’re paying the upper limit for moving dirt.”

Read more about Tuesday’s meeting in the Thursday edition of the News and Sentinel.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com