Work continues to progress at the site of the new Dover High School, which is expected to open in January of 2020. (Photo by Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV)

Dover, Ohio - A section of Tuscarawas Avenue that has been closed to traffic since last Tuesday won’t reopen until the end of this week, according to Dover city officials.

Safety Director Gerry Mroczkowski says the two-block closure between West Fourth and West Sixth streets is for utility extensions to the new Dover High School. He says the project was initially expected to take about two days, however, the timeline had to be extended due to the complexity of the infrastructure in that area. 

“The problem up there is it’s such a complex section of street with your sanitary sewers, your drain runoff, your water lines, which were very large, and your gas lines, which were large, any of the houses that you have to tap into,” he explains. 

Mroczkowski says the biggest reason for the delay is the need to reconnect water lines to homes in the area of the construction site.

“It’s kind of a complicated process. The lines have to be covered to be pressure checked. They have to put it in, hook it up, cover everything, pressure check it, sanitize it, rinse it. Then, they have to dig a hole and go back in and hook it up to the houses. That’s why it’s taking a lot longer,” he explains. 

Mroczkowski anticipates the work should be completed by the end of the business day on Friday, with the road expected to reopen in time for the weekend. 

Along with the utility work, crews have also been working at a feverish pace to construct the exterior walls of the new high school building before the start of winter. 

District Treasurer Marsha Scott says the walls have already gone up for the building’s auditorium. She says crews are now beginning to build on the stairwells for the three-story academic wing and pour the footers for the new gymnasium. 

“It’s exciting to watch it with the walls going up and all of the activity over there,” she says.

Scott says the goal is to have a roof on the building by the end of the year so that the interior work can progress throughout the winter. 

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV