
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 16, 1994                   TAG: 9407180140
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

BLACKSBURG ARCHITECTS HIRED FOR NARROWS ELEMENTARY REPAIRS

The Giles County School Board has chosen a Blacksburg architectural firm to make $3 million worth of improvements to Narrows Elementary School.

The board met Friday to make its unanimous recommendation for Mills, Oliver and Webb Inc. after hearing bid presentations from four area architectural firms earlier in the summer.

This is the second step in a long process of securing funds for the restoration project, which has been in the works since 1985, but was not actively pursued until April. Now that the architectural firm has been selected, board members can get on the waiting list for a Literary Loan, a state fund which lends money at low interest rates to update school buildings in poor repair. Giles County would qualify for an interest rate of less than 3 percent.

"Obviously, we're excited about it," said School Superintendent Robert McCracken. "We used a consensus group of community members, board members, parents and teachers to review the candidates and come to the final four [architectural firms]. We're getting a little bit closer" to reality.

Three other architectural firms - Motley and Associates from Roanoke, Martin and Company from Radford, and Kinsey, Shane and Associates from Salem - were finalists in the bid selection process, and will be contacted if final contract details cannot be settled with the Blacksburg firm.

Narrows Elementary School, with a little more than 500 pupils, has been the fastest growing school in Giles County for the past five years. Narrows and Macy McClaugherty School are the oldest schools in the county, but Macy McClaugherty was renovated in the 1960s. Besides routine maintenance, Narrows Elementary School has never been updated.

Plans for the school include updating the heating and cooling system, building a larger library, a new gymnasium and a new cafeteria. The school classrooms will be renovated as well.

"Our biggest concern is to get more space for our kids," said Narrows Elementary School Principal Ron Skeens.

Once the Literary Loan is secured, construction at Narrows Elementary School could begin as soon as the 1995-1996 school year.

by CNB