'IT'S PRETTY FRUSTRATING' SCHOOLS, FAMILIES STILL WAITING FOR NEW BLEACHERS

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 08/15/2007
Page: 1C
Headline: 'IT'S PRETTY FRUSTRATING' SCHOOLS, FAMILIES STILL WAITING FOR NEW BLEACHERS
Byline: DAVIN WHITE

davinwhite@wvgazette.com

Begging. Screaming. Demanding.

That's how Chuck Wilson described his conversations with a contractor who is running precariously behind on bleacher projects at four Kanawha County high schools.

Wilson, the facilities planning administrator for the school district, said he's been asking Graham, Texas-based Steel Stadiums for more workers. Company reps always say more are on the way, he said.

"We hear that every day, and it's pretty frustrating," Wilson said.

Kirk Rector, president of the athletics boosters at Herbert Hoover High School, said parents' patience is wearing thin. The football field's old bleachers were removed in May, and no work has been done since, he said.

The West Virginia high school football season kicks off next weekend.

Sissonville and Herbert Hoover parents planned to meet Tuesday evening at Sissonville High to discuss the problems, Rector said. He also expects some residents from St. Albans and Nitro high schools also might attend.

"After that, we're going to decide if we need to talk to the board as a group or if we're wasting our time," he said.

Steel Stadiums' contract runs through the end of September. It calls for them to install bleachers at six high schools, which later also include George Washington and South Charleston, according to Wilson. Those two schools still have their old bleachers, but are supposed to have them replaced later this fall.

A $750-per-day penalty, including weekends, kicks in by October if the project isn't done.

The options for Hoover, St. Albans, Sissonville and Nitro remain wide open.

"I've talked to principals, they've looked at Thursday night games, Saturday," Wilson said.

School board President Jim Crawford said one option for St. Albans, which is scheduled to host a night game Aug. 24, is to play the next day at South Charleston's Oakes Field.

"They moved in with the steel down at St. Albans [Tuesday]," he said.

Extra games at Laidley Field and Riverside's Warrior Stadium also are possibilities.

So what happened?

Wilson said the initial land surveys were faulty. Superintendent Ron Duerring said shop drawings "came back wrong," furthering the delay.

St. Albans is the first on the list to get its bleachers, followed by Nitro next week, Sissonville in two weeks and Hoover the third week.

"We always take the lowest bidder," school board member Pete Thaw said. "We ought to give some consideration to the West Virginia bidder, because they're going to be the ones who pay the taxes."

Rector agreed, saying the lowest bid on a construction project isn't always the best.

Duerring said, "We basically had no control over the situation."

Rector said Herbert Hoover stands to lose up to $2,500 a game in concessions - money that's vital to keep other school sports afloat.

"I cannot accept the answer that 'there's nothing we can do,'" he said.

To contact staff writer Davin White, use e-mail or call 348-1254.