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Wood County Board of Education delays Parkersburg High School stadium project

By Gwen Sour 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Board of Education voted Tuesday evening to delay action on a scaled-down renovation plan for Parkersburg High School's Stadium Field, giving supporters eight weeks to seek additional funding for a larger project.

The board first rejected a proposal to move forward with the design and bidding of renovations that would reduce the visitor section to approximately 900 seats. Board members Simon Hargus and Haley Meredith voted in favor, while the other three members voted against it.

A subsequent motion to table the project for eight weeks passed 3-2, with Hargus and Meredith opposed.

Four people -- Pat McFarland, Jim Hamric, Dan Lott and Sean Andrews -- addressed the board before the vote and asked for more time to raise money and explore whether more of the existing visitor stands could be preserved.

McFarland, speaking on behalf of the PHS Stadium Committee, said efforts to address the stadium have been underway since about 2011. He said the committee understands the district's financial limitations but wants an opportunity to preserve more of the stadium's existing footprint.

"We're not here to suggest that that not happen, but we would like to ask the board to table that proposal," McFarland said. "We think we have maybe a six- to eight-week window, perhaps, to maintain the current schedule that is established for May of 2028 to see if there's a way that we can find a way to gap the funding."

Hamric, a Wood County commissioner and former school administrator and athletic director, said the scaled-down project does not meet what he believes voters intended when they approved $2 million for PHS athletic facility improvements as part of a 2022 bond issue.

"We, as a stadium committee, are asking this board, our board, my board, the Wood County board, to table this proposal for about six weeks," Hamric said. "This would also give us time to search for big donors to match what you guys add to it to finish what the bond … originally stated it would do."

Hamric and Lott also raised concerns about visiting athletes walking between the field house and stadium through vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

"What's another six, eight weeks?" Lott said. "Please table it and give us some more time."

Andrews questioned whether reducing the size of the visitor stands was consistent with the bond issue's stated purpose of renovating the structure. He also asked whether the stadium's historic status would restrict the work.

During the board's later discussion, officials said the proposed renovations had received the necessary local approval. Because no federal funding is involved, the project is not subject to a federal historic preservation review.

Hargus said he was concerned that additional delays and rising costs could result in the project being reduced further. He also said supporters did not present a specific fundraising plan.

"Give me a plan. Give me a goal. Give me an executable strategy," Hargus said. "I didn't hear a lot of specifics on whether those conversations are ongoing or that's wishful thinking."

Meredith said the district has discussed Stadium Field's condition for years and needs to move forward with an affordable plan.

"At some point, we've got to move forward," she said.

Officials told the board that waiting eight weeks would not change the anticipated bid date, although inflation could affect the eventual cost. The proposal will return to the board after the eight-week period.

In other business, the board approved a West Virginia 68 turn lane construction change directive for up to $230,000. Board member Debbie Hendershot voted against the measure.

Officials said the work is needed to avoid additional delays to construction of the new Lubeck Elementary School. The district received an $11,000 bill associated with one week of delays, including traffic-control expenses.

The board also unanimously approved hiring Adam Shaffer as Greenmont Elementary School principal effective July 1, 2027; using Title I money to fund a teaching, learning and student success assistant principal at Hamilton Middle School; and paying Pickering Associates $18,500 to prepare demolition specifications and provide engineering services for the former Fairplains Elementary School.

Officials said the vacant Fairplains building has been broken into repeatedly and stripped of copper. The district plans to retain the property for the possible future construction of a maintenance facility.

Regular agenda items consisting of change orders for the new Lubeck, Lincoln and Vienna elementary schools, passed unanimously.

The board unanimously tabled a Vienna Elementary change order of up to $65,477.98 for the removal and replacement of as much as 1,396 cubic yards of material. Members requested additional documentation after officials questioned the proposed price of $46.90 per cubic yard.

The consent agenda passed 4-1, with Hendershot opposed. The consent agenda passed after a proposed personnel transfer involving Jason Jackson was removed.

Following an executive session to interview candidates, the board appointed June Rhodes to the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library Board. Rhodes will serve a five-year term ending June 30, 2031.

Before taking action, the board recognized Parkersburg South High School teacher Ashley Smith, who was named West Virginia's 2026 History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The board also heard a proposal to purchase a $105,525 Anatomage virtual dissection table for the Wood County Technical Center's Health Care Academy.

Technical Center Director Jason Hughes said the table would allow students to examine three-dimensional images of the human body without using cadavers. Federal Perkins funding would pay for the equipment, which would be shared by multiple health care programs. The purchase will be considered at a future meeting.

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com.

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