School on way to new locker rooms

With the fall sports season under way, Vernon Hills High School athletes and coaches can look forward to having more space to prepare for games next year.

The Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 board on Monday agreed to hire a contractor to build a new locker room at the 8-year-old school. Stuckey Construction of Waukegan will build the addition, at a cost to the district of about $1.4 million.

Construction of a new fine-arts storage area and a new canopy at the school's front entrance is part of the deal, too.

The panel voted 6-0 to approve the contract. Board member Jan Foreman was absent.

Nine companies bid for the job. Stuckey's proposal was the least expensive; the highest was nearly $1.8 million.

The new locker room will be built near the front of the school, 145 N. Lakeview Parkway. It's near the main entrance and next to where officials have proposed building a new gymnasium.

The space will contain 179 lockers for students and a special locker room for coaches, District 128 business consultant Jess Porres told the school board. A viewing area where coaches can show game films also is planned.

"I think it's a well thought-out addition," Porres said.

The work could begin within a month or two. It should be completed in spring 2008 and could be used for the first time during the next school year, Porres said.

The extra space isn't needed this year, Porres said.

The school board approved a few other contracts Monday night, too.

It agreed to buy 10 exercise bicycles for Vernon Hills High, improve the district's phone system and add electrical circuitry to 16 classrooms at Libertyville High School to expand audio-visual capabilities.

The bikes will cost more than $19,000. The telephone upgrades will cost nearly $110,000. The electrical improvements will cost about $7,300.