Lake Zurich D95 OKs settlement over building flaws
Years after construction flaws were discovered at three Lake Zurich Unit District 95 buildings, the school board Thursday approved a legal settlement with one of the firms responsible for the work.
The terms of the agreement with Bovis Lend Lease of Chicago were not disclosed to the public or the media during the meeting at Lake Zurich High School, however. The litigation and the settlement details are confidential, board President Kathy Brown said before the vote.
When questioned by the Daily Herald about the secrecy, District 95 spokeswoman Jean Malek said reporters can submit formal requests for the settlement document under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The Daily Herald will make such a request.
The board approved the settlement with a 5-1 vote. Jim Burke cast the lone “no” vote, while Mike Finn was absent.
The only board member aside from Brown to speak about the settlement was Kathleen Wallis, who simply said, “I'm glad it's done.”
The agreement concerned problems discovered in 2007 and 2008 at Spencer Loomis Elementary and at Middle School North, which share the same campus in Hawthorn Woods, and at Lake Zurich High.
Problems with the roof and wall anchors were discovered and later repaired at Loomis School. Flaws in the stairwells and gymnasiums there and at the middle school, which is attached to Loomis, also were discovered.
Additionally, officials discovered a portion of the middle school was built on unstable soil, which led to cracks appearing on interior walls and an area between the business education classrooms and music wing sinking.
At the high school, a field house retaining wall failed and the floors in the performing arts center and drama room were defective, officials said.
The necessary repairs cost the district about $4 million and prompted lawsuits against Bovis, Legat Architects of Waukegan, an Elmhurst engineering firm called Terra Group and the Illinois Masonry Corp. of Lake Zurich. The district settled with Legat already, leaving the Terra Group and Illinois Masonry as the remaining defendants in the case, officials said.