Much of remaining work at Naperville Central in the details

With the doors to a renovated Naperville Central due to open in two weeks, district and construction officials say they've shifted their attention to the project's final details.

The school will be safe and ready for students by the Aug. 25 deadline, officials said Wednesday, but several loose ends remain, including preparation of the Learning Resource Center, installation of several science lab counters and installation of the roof over the music department wing.

"We're trying to get to the fine-tuning and settling on, 'OK, what are we not going to have?'" said Terry Fielden, chairman of the Naperville Unit District 203 school board's facilities subcommittee. "In a project of this magnitude, there's always going to be something that's left undone because it's moving very fast. So we need to get through that."

Specifically, Fielden said he expects the unfinished LRC to be a distraction.

"There's a factor of bringing all these rooms online that's still a disruption," he said. "In your own work space, if you have something that's undone or doesn't work, that's a distraction. It's human nature."

On the flip side, however, director of facilities and construction Ralph Weaver said he's now anticipating a majority of the school's eight science labs to be complete after manufacturers agreed to rush the resin countertops that were holding up completion.

"We'll have most of it in but there may be just a little bit not totally done," Weaver said. "We're installing the countertops just as fast as we get them, so I anticipate only a few pieces may not be ready."

Weaver said students also are likely to notice some construction as a roof continues to be installed over the new music department wing.

"But that won't be nearly as loud or as much of a distraction as the loud noise the students endured last year," Weaver said.

While that work continues and the completion rate is estimated at 90 percent to 92 percent, Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said crews are now checking for last minute electrical and lighting issues.

"There's going to be problems with the building. You're going to plug something in and a circuit's going to fail," Fielden said. "We've got 1,500 new lights in the building and a certain percentage of those are going to fail within the first 30 days. Those are normal expectations. That's just life."

In all, the project at Central, 440 W. Aurora Ave., includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. The 3,000-student school also will get infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music space, improved traffic flow and synthetic turf on its football field. The entire project is scheduled to wrap up by December 2011.

Following Wednesday's update meeting, the district hosted a lunch for the roughly 300 workers on site and surprised them with white T-shirts that read "I helped build a student's future" across the back.

"That type of thing is built into the budget and it's just a way of acknowledging what they're doing out there," Mitrovich said. "If we keep them happy, that just turns out a better work product for us for just a small investment of a hamburger or hot dog and a T-shirt."