A view from the second floor shows where a new stairwell will be constructed at the front of Wheeling Park High School near what is now the media center. (Photo by Joselyn King)

WHEELING — Now that the school year is about completed, the dust is going to start flying faster on construction at Wheeling Park High School.

Work to the addition at the front of the building is expected to be completed by the time students return in August, as are many other projects, according to Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones.

More than $20 million in improvements are happening at the school, he said. The work is being paid for through a $42.2 million bond issue approved by voters in 2018.

Student musicians already are using the new strings room, which was previously the wrestling room. Violins and other instruments line the walls of the new strings room, and what is next needed is cabinetry, Jones said.

An addition was constructed to house the new wrestling room, which will likely be the envy of other wrestling teams in the states, he continued. It has windows.

While most wrestling practice areas have one mat — or maybe only half of one — the WPHS wrestling room will have two. There also will be a large television on the wall at one end so wrestlers can review their matches, and a closet that houses cleaning supplies.

The mats must be washed down and sanitized frequently, and having cleaning products and water closeby makes the process much more convenient than carrying buckets of water through the school, according to Jones.

He said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch — who also coaches wrestling at Hurricane Middle School — has visited WPHS and stated his admiration.

New administrative offices should be completed by August, as will a turf athletic field that is presently under construction on the property, Jones said. A new stairwell also is being placed at the front of the building leading up to the second floor and the area near the current media center.

But once these projects are completed, there still are more plans for construction at WPHS. Work on these will begin after school starts this fall, and could be completed by the fall of 2022, according to Jones.

The media center is being eliminated, and it will be replaced by larger maker spaces.

Science rooms on the second floor also will be enhanced over the coming year, he said.

Construction at WPHS began in the summer of 2020, and had a timetable that “was flexible” due to expected delays caused by COVID concerns, according to Jones. Work was expected to take at least two years.

School officials have acknowledged that the pandemic will add costs to school construction projects as time passes, as the price of drywall, lumber and other materials has been increasing in recent months. Finding labor also has been an issue.