CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There were no signs of Indiana bats at the destroyed Clendenin Elementary School or Herbert Hoover High School locations, meaning demolition efforts can move forward later this year.
Charles Wilson, the Kanawha County Schools executive director of facilities planning, said at Wednesday’s Kanawha County Board of Education meeting logging efforts can begin as early as September.
Both institutions are set to be demolished due to damage from the June 2016 flood, with new institutions being built in the schools’ place. The new elementary school will be a combination of Bridge Elementary and Clendenin Elementary schools.
School officials plan on opening the replacement Bridge-Clendenin Elementary School in fall of 2020, and students could be at the new Herbert Hoover High School beginning in the fall of 2021.
Wilson said with the results of audio testing showing no signs of bats, the next step is to decide how to cut trees on the property.
“We’re really early in the project and there’s a number of things that can happen as we go forth,” he said. “There’s a tremendous number of agencies involved and we work at their schedule. Until we get out to bid, there is always a struggle to push the job along.”
Wilson said they are always learning new regulations affecting the project, including those of FEMA.
“They’re pretty easy to work with, but they’re a big organization and it’s a complex process and only getting more complex as we add more entities to the decision tree,” he said.
Wilson said they are not “100 percent sure” the school system will select a timber package, which would accelerate the project by a month.