District 300 considering improvement options

The Dundee-Crown High School Chargers dazzled the Fox Valley last month with their spirited drive to the Class 4A boys basketball Final Four.

A proposal by the Community Unit District 300 administration presented at Monday's school board meeting may reward the Chargers for their recent show of determination and class.

The proposal would add practice fields, which the school doesn't have right now, as well as sidewalks and storage, in an effort to put the Carpentersville school on a level playing field with the district's other two high schools.

"We felt that we should be doing more with this particular site," said District 300 Director of Operations Mike Prombo. "We do have the money available to do (the additions) right now."

The additions would be built on the former site of the deLacey Family Education Center, a center for special-needs preschoolers that now is located on Cleveland Avenue, next to Carpentersville Middle School.

This summer, District 300 plans to demolish the former deLacey Center - which is now used for storage - at an estimated cost of $558,850.

The school board now has to decide whether to build the Dundee-Crown additions on the former deLacey site as the administration has recommended, or to do only the minimum improvements needed to maintain the safety and appearance of the site.

The Dundee-Crown additions would cost about $559,572 and include more parking, lighting for student parking, sidewalks from the parking lot to the school, two practice fields and a chain-link fence for security.

Dundee-Crown students currently park in a lot by the old deLacey Center and have to walk on the street to reach the high school, according to the district.

The cheaper option would cost roughly $303,480 and include lighting for the parking lot, a new storage shed and minimal site grading.