Dist. 158 trying to stop leaks at schools
Buildings at Huntley Unit District 158's Square Barn Road campus have experienced repeated water leaks that could cost as much as $500,000 to repair, district officials said last week.
The leaks have occurred mostly at Conley and Mackeben elementary schools and the administration building, which all opened in 2005, officials said.
During the past six months, the district's operations staff has investigated the source and severity of the leaks at the district's newest campus, Chief Operations Officer Glen Stewart said.
"This is a chronic problem," Stewart said last week.
When the school board's building committee asked if district employees should visit other sites that were designed by the architects that worked on the campus, Stewart said that wasn't necessary.
"There are probably enough good practices that aren't consistently adhered to that we wouldn't need to do that," Stewart said.
At the Oct. 8 building committee meeting, Stewart went through a litany of problems at the campus due to improper construction.
On the outside of several buildings, caulk doesn't completely cover some holes, hasn't adhered well or has shrunk from surfaces, leaving gaps where water can enter buildings and damage walls.
Inside some walls, copper sheets that are supposed to guide water outside were not sealed together or brought all the way to the outer wall, allowing water to pool within walls or seep into buildings.
Stewart said there are too many architects that were involved in building the campus to point the finger at any one contractor.
But the operations chief said he would hold a meeting with district counsel and the architects to figure out who bears responsibility and develop a plan for repairing the leaks.
"What we're trying to do is get a resolution, not to file a lawsuit," Superintendent John Burkey said. "We want people to take responsibility."
But Burkey added that if discussions with the district's architects fail to produce a resolution, the district will pursue legal action.