This unfinished road, seen in August 2022, leads to the site of the new Clendenin Elementary School. The new school will replace a building torn down after it sustained damage in the June 2016 flood.
This unfinished road, seen in August 2022, leads to the site of the new Clendenin Elementary School. The new school will replace a building torn down after it sustained damage in the June 2016 flood.
The Kanawha County Board of Education approved what’s expected to be the last round of funds for the new Clendenin Elementary School building project during its meeting Thursday.
The board approved $4,419,433.80 for the Wolverton Mountain Road building project under construction by Waterford, Ohio-based Wolf Creek Contracting Inc. The funds were requested to make up for increased labor, material and storage costs stemming from project delays.
“This is the last major change order we perceive,” said Kanawha County Schools Executive Director of Facilities Andrew Crawford. “This should pretty much get us to the completion point.”
A representative from project manager ZMM Architects & Engineers updated the board on the construction timeline.
“We think end of the year is realistic. [Wolf Creek’s] saying February of next year right now,” ZMM Principal Adam Krason said. “We’re going to push them to have this done by the end of the year.”
The county’s share of the increase is about $441,000 in already budgeted funds, schools Superintendent Tom Williams said.
The change order brought the total project cost to $37.8 million, according to schools communications director Briana Warner. FEMA is covering 90% of project costs, including the change orders.
After sustaining significant damage in the June 2016 flood, the original century-old Clendenin Elementary building was demolished in 2021. Since the flood, students have been attending Bridge Elementary, in Elkview. Once complete, the new building will consolidate both elementary populations.
Site work began on freshly annexed land in fall 2021. Not long after, discovery of soil containing pyritic sulfur paused construction.
In August 2022, the board approved paying Wolf Creek an extra $2.3 million to remove and replace the soil. In October 2022, $650,000 was approved for foundation work.
The project was slowed significantly by required testing and regulatory approval hurdles related to the soil and supply line issues.
The original project estimate was $30.5 million. It was expected to be completed in the summer of 2022.
