Published: June 11, 2009 06:34 pm      

School construction — Projects will benefit students

School construction

Projects will benefit students

Long-awaited school construction projects across Mercer and McDowell counties are moving closer to reality.

In McDowell County, work on the new River View High School in Bradshaw is well underway, as well as construction on a new elementary school that is being built along the same 17-acre educational campus in Bradshaw. In Mercer County, site work should begin next month on the long-planned PikeView Middle School project with actual construction of the school to follow in late summer.

The new $12.5 million middle school, slated to be built near PikeView High School in Gardner off Interstate 77, will take in sixth through eighth grade students from Athens, Lashmeet/Matoaka, Spanishburg and Oakvale schools. When PikeView Middle School opens, all four of the feeder schools will be reconfigured into K-5 elementary facilities.

The new PikeView Middle is expected to house approximately 515 students when it is opened during the spring of August 2011.

In Tazewell County, construction is expected to wrap up in late July or early August on a $8.7 million school renovation project that includes Richlands Elementary, Cedar Bluff Elementary, Tazewell Elementary, North Tazewell Elementary and Springville Elementary.

The long-awaited school renovation project includes new heating and air-conditioning systems, electrical upgrades, renovated restroom facilities and new windows in four of the five schools. Many parents have long asked the Tazewell County School Board for air-conditioned classrooms.

The new River View High School in Bradshaw is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. It will consolidate students from the existing Big Creek and Iaeger high schools, which will close next year. The new elementary school currently under construction in Bradshaw also is expected to be completed next year. While actual construction has yet to begin, a new elementary school also is still planned for the Iaeger community.

The new state-of-the-art schools are welcomed.

across Mercer and McDowell counties deserve to receive the best education possible in school facilities that are modern and safe, which provide an environment conducive to learning.

While we realize there was some public opposition to the PikeView Middle School project, it is now time for the impacted communities to come together in support of their children, and the new school. The impacted communities aren’t losing their schools. Those existing facilities are simply being reconfigured into new K-5 schools. That’s important. We believe the small communities must maintain their existing schools.

New state-of-the-art schools are in the best interest of the students, parents, teachers and the communities they serve.