Repair work begins on Nelson elementary school windows

With the school year finished, work to replace and repair windows at the two Nelson County elementary schools has started again.

Crews began work last week at Tye River Elementary School, located along U.S. 29 near Arrington, to replace the large cafetorium window and two eyebrow windows, Roger Collins, the superintendent for Nelson County Public Schools, said.

The project now has a total cost of more than $857,000, Collins said, which does not include additional architectural costs.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the week and after that, crews will move to Rockfish River Elementary School, where they will continue to repair and replace more than 90 percent of the exterior windows, Collins said.

Collins said that the Rockfish River school portion of the project was behind schedule at this time but the remaining classroom windows were scheduled to be replaced by the first day of school. The larger windows at the school will be focused on after that, he said.

The project began early last year with the replacement of the roof at Tye River Elementary School. It was discovered that windows at Rockfish River Elementary School were leaking and the window frames had been installed backwards when the school was originally built more than 10 years ago.

It was also discovered that Tye River school, which is more than 15 years old, was missing a weather barrier between the exterior wall and brick veneer of the building.

In July of last year, the school system contracted with Lynchburg-based construction company Robertson Construction to do the repairs, which also included replacement of the leaking roof at Tye River Elementary.

The project was slowed because of delays in receiving documentation needed by BCWH, the Richmond-based architectural firm working on the project, from the contractor.

Work began on the roof again in October, with crews working throughout the evenings and on the weekends to finish the project. It was finished in November of last year.

During the project, it was also discovered that "microbial growth" and "mold spores" were found growing on the outside of the walls behind the brick veneer at Tye River Elementary School.

The Nelson County Board of Supervisors agreed to monitor and continue testing the building rather than replacing portions of the exterior walls.

Collins said it would be a "welcome relief" to have the project finished.

"The scope of this particular project increased substantially due to unforseen circumstances," he said. "It has also been a much longer process than any of us originally anticipated. However, once everything is totally finished the end result should be positive for our students and staff."