CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Bids will be opened for the site preparation contract for the new Herbert Hoover High School on Wednesday.
State Senator Glenn Jeffries (D-Putnam) expects those bids to come rolling in for the highly anticipated multi-million dollar project, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released $52.3 million for last week.
He noted that there had been more than four pages of bidders in the pre-bidding phase for the estimated budgeted site prep work of $25 million.
Jeffries, who serves the area in the 8th District, said he couldn’t be more thrilled for the flood-ravaged community.
“It’s a sign that this school is going to be built,” he said. “I know that it has taken longer than a lot of us had expected. Going through the proper channels that we had to go through, I’m just thrilled the money has been appropriated.”
Jeffries told MetroNews he expects around five bidders on Wednesday. The apparent low bidder will have 48 hours to get all the proper paperwork in to the Kanawha County Board of Education (KCBOE).
From there, Jeffries said he expects the KCBOE to call a special session to award the bid the following week.
Kanawha County Schools paid more than $3 million for the proposed site earlier this year. The site is 246 acres in the Givens Fork area, land previously owned by Elkview Baptist Church. It’s not far from the Elkview exit of Interstate 79.
“The temporary construction entrance looks like it’s on schedule to happen the first week of January,” Jeffries said. “Then they will put in the first steel fencing that is required and put in the basins. In the month of January, you’ll see some activity on the property.”
Jeffries said it’s been quite the process to get to the bidding once the school was destroyed in the June 2016 flooding. He penned a letter after the FEMA announcement last week, saying, “I promise, we have not forgotten Clendenin.”
He said Wednesday should feel like a victory for the community.
“They’ve always been skeptical whether the school is going to be built or not. I understand their reasoning for that, just from the whole process that is has taken to get it where it’s at today,” Jeffries said.
“But on December 4, with that bid opening, it’ll give some assurance to the community that that school is going to be built there.”
A contract for the building package is expected to be put out for bid in Summer 2020.