Workers have completed asbestos abatement in the West Virginia University Coliseum arena and concourse and should be finished with the entire facility within two weeks.

The 150-foot-high scaffolding required to reach the basketball arenas domed ceiling has been dismantled, said Joe Fisher, assistant vice president for Facilities and Services. The scoreboard is scheduled to be re-hung Aug. 14, and the contractor replacing the hardwood floor will begin work Aug. 23.

“This project is going very well,”Fisher said.”It will be ready for the first basketball practice in mid-October.”

It will take about six weeks to install the floor, he added. Once that job is done, workers will start reinstalling the pullout seats, coordinating that job with the basketball teams practice schedule.

The only asbestos abatement left to do is in a few mechanical spaces, Fisher said. Workers with USA Remediation Services Inc. of Warrenton, Va., should complete that work in two weeks.

Workers will still need to install lights and replace ceilings in some offices in the Coliseum before employees can return, he said. Some employees plan to return in October, and others will wait until the fall semester is over. Employees moved to leased office buildings in Morgantown earlier this year.

The Coliseums recreational facilities should reopen to the public after the Christmas break, Fisher added.

The 14,000-seat arena has been sealed and closed to the public since August 1999 because of concerns about asbestos-containing material that coated the ceiling of the 30-year-old Coliseum. Such products were commonly used worldwide into the early 1970s as a fireproofing and insulation material before their dangers were discovered.

Although regular air monitoring and testing by WVU and a third-party contractor indicated no health risks to occupants, WVU , in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency, closed the Coliseum arena when agreement could not be reached on testing protocols.