After Time-Consuming Delay, $2.7M Addition Project at Simpson Elementary School Ready to Get Started
By Jeff Toquinto on September 30, 2024
It has been almost a year since Gov. Jim Justice announced that Simpson Elementary, along with Nutter Fort Primary has been awarded millions of dollars in funding from the State School Building Authority.
It was on Dec. 11 of 2023 that Justice announced the two schools – both of whom were eligible for funding due to receiving an influx of students when Norwood Elementary closed – were awarded a combined $5,842,600. The schools were awarded emergency funding by the 
state and were aided by having the ability to fund roughly a required $2 million match.
state and were aided by having the ability to fund roughly a required $2 million match.
Officials with Harrison County Schools have long since had plans drawn up and the project awarded for both. Lombardi Development Company of Follansbee will do the Simpson Elementary project.
The contractor will be putting in two new classrooms and a multipurpose room that will essentially be the school’s new – and first – regular gymnasium. The Bridgeport project is roughly $2.7 million and add approximately 4,000 square feet. That is the total when an add alternate was included to raise the ceiling in the gymnasium space.
The hope, however, was that work on Simpson’s project would have begun by now. According to Assistant Superintendent Jimmy Lopez, the Bridgeport project hit a snag that has finally been remedied.
“The project is full go after we just received an okay from the City of Bridgeport, who helped immensely in getting is to where we could proceed,” said Lopez. “The holdup was trying to get a right of way, an easement, through a neighbor of the school’s property but it didn’t work out.”
Instead, the school system worked with the city for access to get equipment to the necessary area. Lopez said the city will allow access off of Center Street after getting the area graded out correctly to reach the back of the Simpson property for the work to begin.
That issue was resolved last Wednesday, Sept. 25. The actual work to get to the access point completed will likely start this week.
“You will see some movement on the project real soon,” said Lopez.
Work, also by Lombardi, has long since begun at Nutter Fort. Lopez said the foundation is in and utilities are going in for six new classrooms.
The additional classrooms are to handle the students from the closure of Norwood. Nutter Fort received the majority of those students.
Lopez is glad the classrooms will help ease the larger class sizes. He is thrilled, however, to see Simpson Elementary School finally have a gymnasium space. The school was built in 1909.
“It’s not a full-sized gym, say, to do a full court basketball game, but it’s large enough to shoot basketball in with the planned high ceilings and have a full gym class,” said Lopez. “The kids have been having physical education classes in the cafeteria.”
For years, the custodial staff and other workers would have to disinfect the area to make it work for lunch. He said while the job was done in an excellent manner, it was hard to make work for scheduling purposes.
“It’s just not practical,” he said. “This will remedy this.”
Lopez said the impact on students and staff with the new project will be minimal and the traffic patterns utilized by the school should also be normal. He said the main entrances and playground area will be fine as the work will be done on the backside of the school.
“I would imagine the students will hear some noise because it is a construction project,” he said. “It should be fairly minimal, and the end result will benefit the entire educational experience at Simpson.”
Lopez did not have a time for completion. However, he said he “doesn’t see a problem” allowing it to be done well ahead of the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows the front of Simpson Elementary School, while Jimmy Lopez is shown below.
