Township 113 board discusses 10-year Master Facilities Plan

When a Rolling Stones reference comes out of a school board meeting, well, that's hot stuff.

Township High School District 113 President Jodi Shapira paraphrased one of Mick and Keith's most famous compositions during the board's March 29 discussion on a 10-year Master Facilities Plan.

That plan, packaged and presented for the board by FGM Architects, includes infrastructure projects at Deerfield and Highland Park high schools that will get top emphasis.

It also included other projects grouped by priority and of those, the most pressing were again prioritized.

When a board member suggested that the roster of projects was not a "to-do list," Shapira slightly disagreed.

"I think it is a to-do list. But I don't think it's a to-do-today list," she said.

"We do these things so we know what are our projects that are our next needs. Some are far more needs than others, some are far more wants than others. And as we all know, you don't always get what you want. But sometimes you get what you need," she said.

If everything listed in the budget estimate were to be executed, the cost would be $186.4 million.

Infrastructure costs between the two high schools were estimated to be more than $75 million, split nearly evenly between Deerfield and Highland Park high schools. Bonds of about $49 million already have been committed, the board said.

At Deerfield the infrastructure needs included the athletic field press box and concessions areas, with the most expensive item overall being roofing at more than $14 million.

Wolters Field athletic building improvement was on the list for Highland Park High School. Mechanical, engineering and plumbing updates were the priciest at $14.8 million incurred over 10 years, followed by roofing at a little over $9.6 million.

Also included in that $75 million tab was improvements to the District 113 administration building, 1040 Park Ave., Highland Park, but there's the possibility the district office would move into existing space at the high schools. That would provide an estimated savings of around $2.3 million.

Overall, the high school buildings would not require construction of any additional spaces, only renovation to, replacement or repurposing of existing facilities.

Many of those are grouped in the plan's list of projects ranked by priority. The total estimate on those listed within the "A" priorities is about $86.5 million. Some projects, such as the Highland Park library renovation, already are underway.

A high-priority project at Deerfield's performing arts center, reconstructing it for nearly $37 million, is by far the most expensive item on the list of priorities. Most of the projects, including the auditorium, involve updating facilities like locker rooms, restrooms and performance spaces to comply with Title IX and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) needs.

"This list is compiled of student impact," Shapira said.

The board stressed that public input will be mandatory not only for further prioritization of projects to be taken on, but also how they would be funded.

Bonds, fund balance, use of the district's operations fund and referendum were the stated options to pay for plan components, though fundraising and naming rights also were mentioned.

Any referendum would not be floated before the November 2024 elections.

"Personally, I don't think this is the time to be talking referendum," said board member Gayle Byck. "I think people are just still not in a good place from the last two years and there's just been a lot of trauma."

Shapira acknowledged that, while District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law emphasized the importance of public input to help refine the Master Facilities Plan and urged the creation of timelines for when projects would start.

"The community has to be with us," Shapira said.