New stadium turf, scoreboard highlight $7.8 million summer improvement plan at Stevenson
Stadium improvements and classroom renovations are among the projects included in Stevenson High School's newly approved $7.8 million summertime construction package.
The artificial turf, running track and scoreboard in the Lincolnshire school's stadium are set to be replaced. And crews will renovate the journalism and yearbook classroom, remodel cafeteria kitchens in the West Building, renovate bathrooms there and replace part of the West Building's roof, among other projects.
Off campus, the district will pay to resurface 12 tennis courts at the Vernon Hills Athletic Complex. Stevenson maintains a 47-acre portion of the complex.
With a single 5-0 vote, the school board on Monday approved contracts with 15 vendors for the work. Trustees Sunit Jain and Heena Agrawal were absent.
The artificial turf field has worn down since it was installed in 2008, Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey said.
"At this point, it's like playing on concrete, which is unsafe for our students as well as those from other schools," Conrey said. "The good news is, we only have to replace the turf and not the underlying foundation, which means the work will cost less than when it was first installed."
Another important item on the summer to-do list is the replacement of a large portion of the school's original sewer line in what is now the West Building.
The pipe was installed in 1965, when fewer than 500 students attended Stevenson. Enrollment is around 4,350 this year.
"If that pipe fails, the school shuts down," Conrey said. "And it's living on borrowed time."
Multimillion-dollar summertime construction plans are a tradition at Stevenson; officials already are beginning to plan for summer 2021.
In a separate vote Monday, the school board approved hiring Wight & Co., its go-to architectural firm, to develop conceptual drawings for construction projects to be undertaken next year.
The design work is expected to cost no more than $52,500. The projects themselves could cost between $4.2 million and $4.9 million, school spokesman Jim Conrey said.
Projects being considered include more roof replacement at the West Building, more carpet replacement and the replacement of a dance studio floor, Conrey said.
None of the contracts approved Monday apply to the planned expansion of Stevenson's East Building and field house. That work is proposed to begin in summer 2021 and could cost between $45 million and $50 million.