Community

Martins Ferry Christian School to Break Ground on New Gym in May

Ground is expected to soon be broken to begin the construction of a new multi-purpose center for the Martins Ferry Christian School.

During a recent Martins Ferry City Council meeting, Mayor Robert Krajnyak said the school anticipates breaking ground sometime next month. The city is granting the school permission to use a section of road between the school and the building site for the staging of materials.

That section of road has been closed since a waterline break occurred there.

"I gave them permission to use that street from the alley to Zane Highway because part of that street is torn up," Krajnyak said. "The contractor can store construction materials on that street. If not they were going to have to store at the north end of their lot and continually be hauling down the highway to get that stuff down there.

"As that's going on the water department is going to be putting a valve in on that line that was broke in the wintertime. It couldn't be totally isolated. … They are either going to replace that valve that's still leaking or just take that valve out and put straight pipe in there."

While Krajnyak gave his verbal permission to the school to use the road, council also voted to approve it during the meeting.

The new center will be two stories in height and have a junior high-sized gym for the school's children's and adult basketball leagues. The upper floor will have a youth area. It will be located on a lot adjacent to the school and church where two structures were torn down in 2016.

The school's Upward Basketball League has been in place for about eight years. The new facility can also be used for dinners, social events and and afterschool programs.

Meanwhile, in other road-related news, Krajnyak talked about the recent repairs made to pavement around the railroad tracks that cross Ohio 7 in Martins Ferry. Motorists experienced delays in their travels last week because of the work, as one lane on each side was shut down during the work. Now, however, the ride across the tracks is a smooth one again.

The work was conducted by the rail company that owns the tracks, Norfolk Southern.

While Norfolk Southern owns the tracks closest to Ohio 7 and those that run across Ohio 7 in Martins Ferry, another set of tracks closer to the Ohio River and its back channel are owned by Wheeling-Lake Erie Railway.

Norfolk Southern's website states the railway company "operates approximately 19,500 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal, automotive, and industrial products."