Improvements noticeable at Warren's Almond campus
Extra elbow room at lunchtime will be among the improvements students will notice at Warren Township High School's Almond Road upperclassmen campus in Gurnee.
Cafeteria expansion and a much roomier area for services such as college and career counseling are part of the first leg of the Almond building's remodeling, which officials said is needed because of projected growth. Students will return Wednesday.
Voters last November approved a plan for Warren District 121 to borrow a maximum of $30 million mostly for renovations and expansion of the Almond Road building for juniors and seniors. The school was built for $37 million and opened in August 1997.
District 121 Superintendent Phil Sobocinski and some construction team members led a tour of the Almond campus this week.
Most striking to visitors will be the redone cafeteria, which was expanded into space that had been the Black Box Theater. School officials and students previously voiced unhappiness with the cafeteria's crowded conditions.
Along with double the space, the cafeteria will feature booths, tables and counter areas for student dining that Sobocinski said will be collegiate in style. A bookstore was built in the cafeteria so the pupils can be more efficient with their time.
"If they need a pencil or a notebook, they can do it at lunch," Sobocinski told District 121 board members and others on the tour.
Construction began in late April, with August 2010 set as the target date for completion.
Work will proceed through the school year on the structure's exterior for additions of a new theater and 14 classrooms, as well as an access drive from Gages Lake Road. Lower-level storage areas will be converted into classrooms.
Sobocinski said construction workers cannot be at Almond during the school year unless they are fingerprinted and placed through background checks. The crews must watch their language and adhere to a code of conduct, which means not even lighting up a cigarette on campus.
"Thank you for working here, you're done," Sobocinski said of what a worker caught violating the rules would hear from Warren officials.
Oak Brook-based FGM Architects Inc. and Pepper Construction Group of Chicago are collaborating on the Almond expansion and renovation.
In June, Pepper building superintendent Dan Nowak briefed Warren board members about problems that were discovered with the 12-year-old Almond Road structure.
Nowak said face brick fell when workers drilled door openings at the former Black Box Theater. Nowak displayed for board members some pins that were used for the wall, which he said were substandard for the material's thickness.
In addition, said Nowak, crews found that no structural cement was used under the cafeteria's tile.
Almond has been accommodating 1,900 students or so in a structure Warren officials say was designed for 1,800. The new capacity will be about 2,200.
Former school officials stated publicly in 1996 the Almond campus would be built to handle 2,000 students.