Herbert Hoover groundbreaking postponed due to weather

UPDATE: Due to weather conditions in the Kanawha Valley, the groundbreaking ceremony has been postponed. It has been rescheduled to January 22.

ELKVIEW, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice is among those scheduled to attend groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday for the new Herbert Hoover High School in Kanawha County.

A noon ceremony is scheduled on the Given Fork site which is just a few miles from the Interstate 79 Elkview exit. The former Herbert Hoover High was destroyed in the June 2016 flood.

Contractor Doss Enterprises began moving dirt at the site last month. The company won a $19.7 million contract from the Kanawha County Board of Education. The company will move 3.2 million cubic yards of dirt, along with the removal of acres of trees. Plans are to have the building site ready by next September or October.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will pay for most of the project. The agency released $52.3 million for the project in November. Kanawha County school officials have said they hope to have the school ready for students by the fall of 2022.

Members of the Kanawha County Board of Education are scheduled to attend Tuesday’s groundbreaking along with Herbert Hoover officials, senior students ad the school’s marching band.