Dist. 200 residents to vote on Hubble

In less than five months, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 residents will put to rest the most hotly debated issue in the community for the past five years.

School board members voted unanimously Wednesday night to ask voters on Feb. 5 for permission and funds to build a new Hubble Middle School in Warrenville at a site on Herrick Road.

The ballot question will be free of any rider initiatives. There will be no extra money tacked onto the proposal to renovate or build a new Jefferson Preschool. There will also be no extra money sought for technology improvements in the district.

Board member Barb Intihar summed up the joyful sentiments of the rest of the board with a call to action.

"We've said enough," Intihar said. "We're headed in this direction; we've been headed in this direction . … Let's get moving with it and see what the community thinks."

The school board will meet again Oct. 10 at Wheaton Warrenville South High School to tackle the monetary details.

Architects, construction managers and bond experts will lay out the final cost estimates for building the new Hubble and scenarios for how to pay for it.

This meeting may include the second major vote in the referendum process: deciding if selling the current Hubble property is the best move. The district staff has already told the board they believe that's the best way to defer some of the cost of the new school.

Appraisers will present the latest value estimate of the current Hubble property. The school building itself is expected to drag the value down because it will be costly for a developer to demolish.

The majority of the school board have indicated a desire to sell the current Hubble. But no vote to state that as the board's official intention has occurred.