photo by: Eric Ayres

Reclaim Company LLC of Fairmont, West Virginia, is slated to begin the task of removing asbestos from the sprawling former Clay School building in East Wheeling this week.

WHEELING — Work to remove asbestos from the former Clay School building in East Wheeling is set to begin this week.

In June, Wheeling City Council awarded a $498,000 contract to Reclaim Company LLC of Fairmont, West Virginia, for the abatement of the sprawling former Clay School building on 15th Street.

A $500,000 Brownfield grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was secured for asbestos abatement at the former school building. However, some of these funds were previously spent on consulting services to provide specifications for the contract.

The city of Wheeling will be providing $123,624 from its Restricted Capital Improvement Project fund, while the remainder of the cost for abatement — $374,376 — will be covered by the EPA grant.

Reclaim was the low bidder for the job. By comparison, Raze International Inc. submitted a bid in the amount of $549,017 for the job.

“I don’t know how long it will take,” Herron noted. “I think the contract is a 90-day contract. But we do anticipate activity around the Clay School for the next several weeks.”

City officials expressed an eagerness to see work taking place at the site that has remained vacant for years. Councilwoman Connie Cain, who represents the Ward 3 neighborhood of East Wheeling, indicated that she was happy to get work rolling at the site.

“After years of waiting, momentum is finally moving forward at Clay School,” said Cain. “Progress is no longer a promise, it’s happening with the start of the asbestos removal.”

Once remediation is completed at the site, the former Clay School is expected to be demolished. Funds through the West Virginia Environmental Protection Agency’s D-Lap (Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties) program have been made available to the city for the demolition work. Bids for a contract to raze the 75,000-square-foot building are expected to be let before the end of this year.

The Clay School first opened its doors more than 80 years ago and operated for decades as part of the city of Wheeling’s public school system before closing its doors permanently in the 1990s. There have been a number of attempts by private investors to repurpose the huge building, but no ventures to redevelop the property ever came to fruition.

Wheeling City Council took action to acquire ownership of the building in December of 2021. A consultant was subsequently hired to perform a comprehensive study into possible future uses of the property, weighing input from people in the community.

City leaders agreed that the most prudent path forward for the property would be to demolish the building and seek funds to build a new indoor recreation facility at the site, which is adjacent to the outdoor fields of the J.B. Chambers Memorial Recreation complex.