SPRING VALLEY — After 16 years, five superintendents, four governors and too many meetings to count, Spring Valley Elementary has moved a major step closer toward getting its new building.

On Wednesday, board members met with district architect Bill VanDusen of Allied Design of Springfield and others to approve the construction documents on the new addition and authorize their release to contractors.

School officials first began discussing expanding the Kennedy school building in 1997. The expansion would allow the district to close Lincoln School, which is 75 years old, and have all the students at one location.