Dist. 88 renovations on schedule for back-to-school
As the final scaffolds come down, tool boxes are put away and dust is removed, students and staff are starting to get excited about the major changes awaiting them when school starts Sept. 7 in DuPage High School District 88.
The district, which includes Willowbrook High School in Villa Park and Addison Trail High School, is finishing $115 million in renovations at both buildings.
Actual construction on the project dubbed "Building the Future" began in summer 2008 and officials say all but a few odds and ends will be complete in time for the first day of school.
Superintendent Steve Humphrey said students already want to have their "firsts" at the schools.
"Two kids came to school last week and wanted to be the first to run laps in their new field house," Humphrey said. "They were track athletes and it's not even their season to practice, so there's excitement about things like that."
Addison Trail's improvements will include a three-story, 24,000-square-foot classroom addition, a one-story, 20,000-square-foot student commons addition, and a 42,000-square-foot field house addition.
Work at Willowbrook includes a one-story, 6,000-square-foot music addition, two stair tower additions and a 42,000-square-foot field house.
Humphrey said students will find most of the major changes complete on Sept. 7, as well as different ways to maneuver around their schools, and perks like wireless technology in both buildings.
"They saw some of the flavor of that last year, but to finally see the construction things gone and the buildings fully operational will be, I think, a surprise," he said.
A few projects will remain in progress until the two buildings are dedicated in mid-October, including landscaping at both schools, an unfinished entrance at Addison Trail and installation of extra exterior lights.
Extra crews were sent in to work night shifts and will likely work through Labor Day weekend with cleaning crews to make sure deadlines are met.
They are trying to make up for time lost in July, when the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, and the Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity, went on strike in a dispute over pay and benefits with Mid-America Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.
The strike shut down hundreds of road and other construction projects across the region for about three weeks.
To keep work moving before the strike ended, District 88 agreed to use union labor for any projects slated in the next 10 years.
Now as he anticipates students' return, Humphrey said the construction-free environment will be refreshing for everyone.
"It will be good to just have normalcy and not have wiring in the halls or tarps over things," he said. "We can get back to teaching and learning in a normal sense."