RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Just over two years after a massive fire ripped through historic William Fox Elementary School in Richmond’s Fan neighborhood, the construction company taking over the interior rebuild is waiting to get the green light from the city.
In October of last year, Richmond Public Schools began the bidding process for contractors to rebuild the interior of the 110-year-old building. Gulf Seaboard General Contractors, the only company that submitted a bid, was selected to the contract and agreed with the city on a price of $30 million.
Katherine Jordan, who represents the 2nd District in Richmond City Council, told 8News city officials anticipated more bids but are happy to be moving forward with construction.
“I’m very confident that they know what needs to be done,” said Jordan about the the company. “They do this type of work, they’re invested very much as a local business in seeing the school reopen. So, while you always want to have multiple bidders, we got a great bidder to come in and I’m grateful that they are stepping forward to do the work.”
Jordan said the final building permits are still under review — one of which is for sprinklers, which the building did not have at the time of the fire.
Richmond Public Schools still hopes to reopen the school to students in the fall of 2025.
