Grant High officials excited over expansion project

Forgive Grant High School officials for being a little excited about their new field house now under construction on Devlin Road, but it's clear they think it will be something special.

"It's something Fox Lake has never seen before," Superintendent John Benedetti said. "When finished, it'll really be a beautiful facility."

When completed, the field house will have three hardwood courts for basketball, volleyball and gym classes. It will also feature an indoor running track, weight rooms, a classroom and indoor concessions.

Coupled with the 21-room addition on the east side of the campus, the $38.5 million expansion will be able to accommodate 2,400 students, Benedetti said.

The project is being done in two phases. The first phase consists of the field house, classrooms, art studios and science laboratories.

That work will be followed by the second phase, which includes demolishing a portion of the old 1930 single-story expansion at Grand and Devlin, and replacing it with a two-story building that will house more classrooms.

The activity center/field house has seating for 2,500 people, and officials are targeting completion in October, before the start of the high school basketball season.

The goal, Benedetti said, is to have all physical education classes in the new building Monday through Friday, as well as accommodating team sports and community events.

With 1,745 students, Grant is currently at capacity, but enrollment is projected to reach 2,300 by 2014.

Construction was funded after voters approved a tax rate referendum in February 2008. Because the district was set to retire a bond that would have lowered its tax rate, voters were asked to let the district keep the money that would have been returned in exchange for the $38.5 million expansion.

If the ballot request had been rejected, an owner of a $200,000 home would have seen a $132 decrease in their annual tax bill.

Grant officials said the need for the field house was for more gym space because the existing gymnasiums at the school were too small and unable to be expanded.

"We didn't have the ability to add on to the current gym because of its location in the school," Benedetti said. "The best way to add gym space was to build the field house."

The older gyms will remain open and used as extra practice space.

This is the third expansion at Grant since 2000, when it expanded to accommodate 1,650 students. In 2005, new classrooms and a library were added, and paid for through impact fees.