(Photo by Douglass Huxley) Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design for Pickering Associates, and Ryan Taylor, CEO and president, talked to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about renovations to Parkersburg High School’s historic stadium.

PARKERSBURG — The aging visitor-side bleachers at Parkersburg High School’s historic stadium are set for a comprehensive renovation after multiple unsuccessful bid cycles.

“The community needs the job finished at a high level. So I’m excited that this board has taken action,” Ryan Taylor, CEO of Pickering Associates, said.

Taylor, along with Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design, talked to the board about the project, saying plans included rebuilding deteriorated bleachers with a reduced but more comfortable seating capacity, upgrading the façade with historically appropriate window treatments, replacing old halogen lights with LED systems, and adding fire sprinklers on the west side. It will also convert Building 413 into a modern, gender-neutral visitor locker room with restrooms, training space, storage, renovated HVAC; and infrastructure for future uses, while reworking site parking, adding Americans with Disabilities Act spaces and improving access and campus security around the stadium.

Taylor said renovation efforts have been in discussion for more than a decade, but emphasized that the board’s cautious approach has ensured the right project at the right price.

“I do want to thank you again… this project is done for our community, and I appreciate you guys being measured… we’ve had to bid it so many times, but we need to get the right project for the right money,” Taylor said.

(Photo by Douglass Huxley) Sean Cottrill, assistant director of education design for Pickering Associates, and Ryan Taylor, CEO and president, talked to the Wood County Board of Education Tuesday night about renovations to Parkersburg High School’s historic stadium.

He said that because the stadium is on the State Historic Preservation Office’s radar, the team is working in parallel to secure necessary clearances.

“We have started the process of creating exhibits to give to SHPO. And SHPO is the State Historic Preservation Society. So this structure is listed of historical significance… we are going to do our best to make sure that we keep some of it,” Taylor said.

He said the visitor-side stands were condemned years ago, and photos presented to the board underscore why.

“These are the existing conditions of the visitor side of the stadium. So no surprises. It looks bad. It was condemned for a reason back in the day,” he said.

Instead of trying to preserve under-bleacher interior space as occupied rooms, he said the plan shifts to a safer, more straightforward design that emphasizes exterior appearance and structural integrity.

“We were trying all along to maintain space for future classes, maintain the 4,000 seats… it just wasn’t achievable with the budget. And so it was decided to make the space non-inhabitable under it. … And so that’s the route we’ve done,” Taylor said.

He said the renovation will also significantly change the configuration of the visitor-side bleachers.

“Originally… we would always say 3,600 to 4,000… that was based on 12 inches. So the new number is 1,802 on 18 inches. So you don’t have to be as friendly with your friends,” he said.

Taylor said the renovation will also dramatically improve the look of the historic façade. He said painted concrete block infills will be replaced with historically appropriate window patterns that complement the main school building.

“I don’t know when they decided to put CMU in all the window openings and paint it brown, but it’s not very attractive… If you pay attention to the existing PHS building, it has the white windows, which are historically correct. We are going to put in the same windows… we are going to upfit the look of this stadium,” Taylor said.

He said when fans arrive, they will see a more inviting entrance and a cleaner, more historically consistent stadium front.

“Not only are you going to be presented with that cool entrance, the black fencing, the columns, and then you’re going to walk into the campus and then you’re going to see the stadium with the windows, and you’ll have the handicap accessible (parking) and the more parking in the back. I think that’s the presentation we want to give our visitors and our guests to our community,” he said.

He said two light poles need to be moved for renovations to the bleachers and he saw this as an opportunity to upgrade all the lighting.

“The lights are buried in the existing stadium,” Taylor said. “Those are old style halogen lamps. As a part of this, we’ve got quotes… to replace both sides with LEDs, because we have to move two of them. So it doesn’t make sense to only move two and not upgrade the other side.”

He said another key component of the stadium package is the renovation of Building 413, a two�’story structure that once housed visitor restrooms and concessions but has been out of operation for about two decades.

“We’re going to bring it back alive,” Taylor said.

He said the building will be transformed into a modern, more flexible visitor locker room and support space.

“This gets you 34 lockers, it gets you restrooms, it gets you a training area. It also gets you provisions for our sprinkler system,” he said.

He said the layout is designed to serve multiple sports and both genders.

“We did take out the urinals because we think this will be, needs to be, more gender neutral, because I think soccer teams, all kinds of visiting teams, will come and use this… we focus a lot on football, but to have this facility so close, I think… they’re going to use it for all kinds of things,” Taylor said.

He said although it wasn’t in the budget to get the concession stand back up and running, they are planning renovations for future concession potential.

“We will do enough to… have a hot water tank, we will plumb for the future concession stand… we will do the bare minimum to get infrastructure to one day bring the concession stand back online. But it’s not in the scope of work,” he said.

Taylor said an overgrown stormwater retention pond — nicknamed the “mosquito pond”– would be replaced with buried storm chambers and a new parking area.

“We are going to add a parking lot there. So we are going to bury ADS�’style storm chambers. We’re going to collect that water and slowly let it out, instead of having it in an open pond… we’re going to improve the looks and the functionality of the facility by regaining that land that you gave away many years ago,” he said.

He said this would add 15 ADA parking spaces, 18 additional regular parking spaces near the stadium entrance and new double�’stacked parking and dedicated bus parking behind the stadium.

If the revised project moves forward on the proposed schedule, the pair said construction is expected to be completed before the 2027-2028 football season.

“We are looking at (a) target bid opening of June 3, 2026, and approval for the Board of Education meeting on June 23, 2026,” Cottrill said. “So that would put a construction schedule roughly 14 months to get that complete before the 2027-2028 football season.”

As plans advance, Taylor stressed that the renovation is about more than concrete and seating counts — it’s about respecting the stadium’s history while finally making it safe, functional and welcoming again.

“We’re here to make it better, and we have a good plan,” Taylor said.