Renovations are underway at two athletic facilities as part of the Randolph County Board of Education bleacher project that began with the new football stadium being constructed at Elkins High School this past fall.

The installation of new bleachers at Tygarts Valley High’s School baseball complex was completed earlier this week, while construction is ongoing at the Elkins Middle School softball field, a facility the Lady Hornets share with the Elkins High School softball team.

In 2020, Wimer Stadium in Elkins, the Elkins Middle School softball field and the Tygarts Valley High School baseball field were all deemed unsafe for spectators by the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management.

That led to the Randolph County Board of Education approving a resolution enabling the county school system to enter into a lease purchase agreement with Citizens Bank of West Virginia, to provide funding for new bleachers to be built at each complex.

New bleachers have been installed on both the home and visitors sides of the baseball field at Tygarts Valley High School.

Stadium Solutions Inc. was hired to take care of all phases of bleacher projects, including designing, engineering and construction. The estimated cost of the project was approximately $957,000.

“Stadium solutions are working quickly and moving right along,” Randolph County Schools Assistant Superintendent Joseph Arbogast told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday. “They’ve been great to work with since day one. They’ve come in and did a tremendous job with these projects.

“These ongoing projects are all part of the one that saw the work done at the Elkins High School football field this past fall,” he said. “The kids are benefiting from this project and they’re getting something really nice to be proud of. It’s great for our kids and it’s great for our fans — they deserve it.”

Other than the construction being done at the baseball and softball fields, work is also underway at the Tygarts Valley High School football field. The old section of bleachers at the football field have already removed.

“The new bleachers at the Tygarts Valley football field will go up as soon as Stadium Solutions gets everything done for the spring sports venues,” Arbogast said. “Due to baseball and softball season approaching soon, we wanted to have them ready to go when the season starts. But as soon as the work is done on those two facilities, they will begin work right away on putting up the Tygarts Valley football bleachers.”