CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Board of Education moved Thursday to approve renovations to the HVAC systems at Ben Franklin Career Center in Dunbar and Piedmont Elementary School in Charleston.
St. Albans-based ZDS Design/Consulting Services will be conducting the work, which includes the replacement of multizone units at both facilities and working to provide the equipment with electrical power and natural gas. The $981,604 bid also includes provisions regarding related cutting, painting and other general construction efforts.
Charles Wilson, the executive director of facility planning and construction management for Kanawha County Schools, said the current units have been working past the designed lifespan.
“There were a number of issues and multiple repairs had to be made,” he said. “The units were at the point where they had to be replaced.”
Wilson said students and faculty at both institutions will be provided with temporary heating as crews work on the installation of the units, which he expects will conclude in January.
“It’ll be weather dependent, too,” he added. “We want to work in safe environments. If it’s frozen over, it might delay it a bit.”
The board of education was originally scheduled to vote on a contract with Williamson/Shriver Architects regarding design services associated with a new Herbert Hoover High School, but the item was pulled from the agenda because the firm and the school board are still discussing a base fee.
Herbert Hoover High School was destroyed in the June 2016 floods. Students this year have been holding classes in portable classrooms next to Elkview Middle School.