Photos by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

From the outside, the new Riverlawn Elementary School looks nearly complete. Roads leading to Virginia 114 and Viscoe Road are also under construction.

Although the exterior of the new Riverlawn Elementary School in Fairlawn is nearly complete, construction crews inside are still working on finishing the electrical wiring, as well as tiling floors and putting the finishing touches on paint.

The sun shines onto empty cubby holes that will soon be filled with backpacks and books in a classroom at Riverlawn Elementary School.

FAIRLAWN -- Construction on Riverlawn Elementary, the newest Pulaski County school, has been ongoing since August 2007, but officials say they don't know when students will be able to enter the new $18 million school.

Director of Operations Ron Nichols said rainy weather has caused construction crews to miss several days of work. And every day they miss, Nichols must add back to their contract.

He said the latest date he had hoped for "substantial completion," which means all major work is finished, the building is safe and the school board can apply for an occupancy permit, was Christmas day.

The facade of the two-story school and surrounding paving work is complete. Inside, much of the carpet has been laid and card-reading security systems are in place. Last week, contractors had yet to put down tile in many of the common areas, paint was fresh and electric lines still were being put in place.

Once that work is nearly finished, the floors need to be waxed and furniture placed in the school.

School officials had planned for a September opening date, but since that fell through, the school board has not named a new one.

The board is scheduled to meet Jan. 8 for an update on the construction and may discuss an opening date then, Superintendent Don Stowers said. He said he had hoped that students could enter the school after the semester ends on Jan. 30.

"I would ideally like to move at a natural break like the semester," Stowers said last week. "It's not as complicated, though, because we're just moving students and teachers from one school."

When it does open, the 30-classroom, 600-student building off Viscoe Road will use geothermal heating, a system that draws groundwater through wells to heat and cool the building. It's the first in the region to use the technology, which school officials expect will save 30 percent in energy costs despite an $800,000 investment up front.

"We thought it would be an eight- to 10-year payoff, but Appalachian Power just got its raise, so the way things are going it might be sooner," Nichols said.

The school also will boast two computer labs, two pre-kindergarten classes, five classrooms per grade level and separate art and music rooms.

The school's academic wings have halls for different grades, with kindergarten and first and second grades separated from third, fourth and fifth.

The pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade school is nearly identical in design to Pulaski Elementary, including a school greenhouse and community gathering room. Blacksburg architects OWPR Inc. designed both.

"We really want the community to be a part of this," Nichols said.

He said he expects community groups and recreation leagues to take advantage of its walking track, football and soccer fields, and its gymnasium and stage.

Construction of the new school began in the summer of 2007. The typical school takes up to 18 months to complete.

The county will have to change its district boundaries to fill Riverlawn, the second new school built in Pulaski County since the 1970s, because the current Riverlawn Elementary has 329 students, according to state enrollment figures.

That's nothing new, Nichols said. The county's building plan calls for redistricting students to attain the 600 capacity.

"But we haven't gotten all those issues solved," he said.

Stowers said that students would be drawn from the central and western parts of the county, but that no one would be moved until fall 2009.