Dilly: Two TVHS gym proposals sent to School Building Authority

ELKINS -- Randolph County Schools Superintendent Shawn Dilly announced this week that two grant applications have been submitted to the state School Building Authority regarding the Tygarts Valley High School gymnasium.

Dilly provided the Randolph County Board of Education with details on the applications during this week's BOE meeting. The applications had to be submitted to the SBA before Sept. 16.

"There are two different options we are looking at for Tygarts Valley Middle/High School," Dilly said. "The first option was looking at trying to basically add to the existing building to include a section that would include a new gymnasium and classrooms. That would include a special ed classroom, a science classroom, and two additional classrooms."

Dilly said the second option sent to the SBA focused on the future, and what the project would mean for the school and students years down the road.

"Part of what this application is thinking about is the plans for the next 20 to 25 years," he said. "Which is part of why we also had a second option, which is a little more costly option, but we are still in discussions with the SBA over this."

The second option would call for the old section of the school, which was constructed in 1950, to be demolished. Six new classrooms and a brand new gymnasium would then be built in that area.

"With the second option an additional section would be added to the back part of the building, which would basically be looking at eliminating the 1950 section and building a much larger gymnasium with a six-classroom addition," Dilly said.

"Part of why we like this one is to address a lot of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues and some of the other mechanical issues. It will also allow the school to have a full-size court that can be divided. That way you can actually have two full-size courts running at the same time."

Dilly said even though two applications were sent to the SBA, he is pushing for the second option.

"They are going to come up and look at this and again we are trying to come up with the best plan, thinking long-term," Dilly said. "We are in favor of the removal of the 1950s section, which we know the locker rooms are not accessible for folks as well as so many other different issues. So this would bring everything up to standards. We know and recognize that the community uses this (gym) seven days a week, pretty much year-round. So this would allow them to do a lot more with that facility."

The first option would cost approximately $8 to $9 million, while the second option would cost a bit above $17 million.

Dilly admitted the second option, which if selected by the SBA would take up some of the back parking lot at Tygarts Valley High School, would be more expensive than the first, but said it would eliminate many of the other issues that would have to be addressed in the future.

"That (section) would be built on that back parking lot, so we would have to look at some additional parking and things of that nature," he said. "The first option doesn't fix the problems of the roof being done. It doesn't address the sprinkler system and all the other different aspects. So in some ways (option 2) makes more sense, because you are avoiding all of these costs, which is a little over $5 million we'd have to invest over the next five years." 

"(For the second option) we are discussing doing two phases, starting with building the classrooms and then looking at doing the rest over the next couple years," Dilly said. "Because part of what I want to do as we start talking about reorganization and how we are going to do things differently in the future that are more financially feasible, I still want to bring these opportunities to our kids. So when this opportunity was shared that there was an interest in supporting this program for us, this is what we wanted to develop, because I don't want to think about now or next five years, I want to think about 20 or 25 years down the road and this would serve this community exceptionally well."

Dilly said he has received a lot of positive feedback from the SBA and feels good about something being accomplished.

"Is this 100 percent? By no means is it, but we are in a better position than we have been in a long time," he said. "It's not a done deal by any means, but I think what it does is place us in a position where we can do a lot for that school and look into the future. This is a foundational step for a larger plan."