Part of the old Williamstown Elementary School is pulled down by a member of Jimmy Harper Construction on Wednesday. The city of Williamstown is working with the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library to try to move the Williamstown branch to the library of the former school. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Demolition of the old Williamstown Elementary School started this week.

On Wednesday a crew from Jimmy Harper Construction was at the former school on Williams Avenue to start tearing down the building that served as the elementary school.

The company was awarded the bid for the demolition projection November 2023 for $133, 900.

“We’re not tearing the whole school down,” Williamstown Mayor Paul Jordan said.

There are all kinds of opportunities for the property, he said.

Pieces of equipment run by a crew from Jimmy Harper Construction tear down the building that was the former Williamstown Elementary School Wednesday. The city of Williamstown is keeping the library and the gym of the old school and working with the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library to try to get the Williamstown branch into the library. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

The city of Williamstown owns the property and it is keeping the gym, cafeteria and the front of the library, according to Jordan.

He said the city would like to see a community center and extra gym space for sports at the site.

“I would love to see new basketball courts in town,” Jordan said. “I would love to see pickle ball courts.”

He said the city would even like to use the site of the former school for an emergency shelter.

“There’s a lot of mixed emotion” related to tearing down the school, Jordan said, but many people don’t know that part of the deal with Wood County Schools for the city to get the property was it had to tear down the old school due to issues like asbestos.

Demolition began Wednesday on the building built in 1907 that was the formerWilliamstown Elementary School. The city of Williamstown is keeping the library and gym of the old school. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

He said as of right now the plan is to have the Williamstown branch of the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library to move to the library of the former school.

The construction crew will be working on most of the demolition this week and some next week, Jordan said. Once they are done the next phase is to work with PWCPL on getting the Williamstown branch moved to the old school’s library, according to Jordan.

After the library gets moved Jordan does not know what the next step will be. He said Williamstown City Council has to figure out what to do at the site.

“The sky’s the limit once we get the (school) building out of there,” Jordan said.

No council meetings have been scheduled yet to discuss what else might end up at the school site, according to Jordan

The demolition of Williamstown Elementary School started Wednesday. The city of Williamstown is keeping the library and gym of the former school but tearing down the building that was built in 1907 that served as the actual school building. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

“We have a lot of thinking to do going forward,” Jordan said.

PWCPL Director Brian Raitz confirmed that the library has been working with the city of Williamstown for several years on getting the Williamstown branch moved to the old Williamstown Elementary School library.

“The status (of the plan) has been on hold for the last couple years … until the actual (school) structure is down,” he said.

Raitz said once the school building is done they can actually work on a memorandum of understanding between PWCPL and the city of Williamstown to make the move.

“The intention is for us to renovate part of that building for the library,” Raitz said.

A dozer works on a pile of rubble during the demolition of the old Williamstown School Wednesday. The city of Williamstown is tearing down the 1907 building that made up the actual school and keeping the library and gymnasium and is working to get the Williamstown Branch of the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library in the old school library. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

He said the Williamstown branch of PWCPL was built in 1977 and “its very inadequate for the needs of Williamstown.”

A newer, bigger library is needed, according to Raitz.

An excess school levy was passed in 2022 and one of the reasons for it was to build a new Williamstown branch, according to Raitz.

He said money will still need to be raised to move the library and do the renovations.

“We will figure out a way to do this,” Raitz said.

PWCPL will work with an architectural/engineering firm on designing the new Williamstown branch once it signs the MOU with the city, he said.

As part of the strategic plan PWCPL worked on four years ago, according to Raitz, the new Williamstown branch was supposed to be built by the end of 2025.

He said they will see if it can still be done in the next year. PWCCPL wants to build something “the community will look forward to,” he said.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com