The City of Buckhannon and the Upshur County School System joined together this week to tear down old storage buildings at the Board of Education office to make way for additional parking in the College Avenue area.

The agreement, which has been in the works for months, came to fruition on Tuesday as city crews helped demolish the structures.

According to an agreement between the city and school board, the city provided the labor to raze the buildings and prepare the area to be used as a parking lot, while the school system paid for gravel and disposal costs.

The board further pledged to maintain the parking lot for at least 10 years.

Tim Derico, facilities director with Upshur County Schools, said the end result will benefit both parties by razing an old structure and increasing available parking near Buckhannon Academy Elementary School, which has been an area of concern for city council.

“Our folks are taking the metal off the building to try and reduce the cost, and the city as agreed to do the demolition portion,” Derico told My Buckhannon as the work commenced. “They’re basically furnishing the labor, equipment and time, which is a great benefit to us. The end result will be a paved area for off-street parking for teachers at BAES and parents attending events.”

The two government entities had also discussed razing a second building on Tucker Street that is used by the maintenance department. Derico said the school system is still in the process of moving items out of there, so that part of the project is on hold for now.

Buckhannon mayor David McCauley and director of public works Jerry Arnold weren’t sure exactly how many parking spaces would be created in the new lot, but it could be as many as 50-60, greatly reducing the number of school-related vehicles parked on the street in that area of town.