District 203 gets funds for facilities

Naperville Central High School is going to get its makeover.

Naperville Unit District 203 voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a $43 million tax increase that will cost the average homeowner about $82 a year for the next 20 years.

With all 85 precincts reporting, unofficial results showed 58.8 percent of voters supported the tax bump.

The money will help fund $114.9 million in facility projects around the district, although it will still be more than a year until major site work begins.

Naperville Central is the focal point of the district's plans and is set for $87.7 million in renovations and additions that officials say are necessitated by the school's age and enrollment. The work will affect roughly 75 percent of the building.

Other projects will include $7.3 million for renovations and an addition to Mill Street Elementary and building an $11 million early childhood center to serve special needs children.

At Naperville North High School, the pool will be deepened, traffic flow improved and synthetic turf will be added to the football field.

Prairie and Ranch View elementary schools and Washington Junior High will get $700,000 in security enhancements.

Elementary students will be affected by the projects even if their school isn't up for renovations. The improvements at Naperville Central will include a kitchen large enough to provide hot lunches to all 14 elementary schools.

The district has been studying its facilities for about four years, including an architectural review of all 21 schools.

Architects already have drawn basic concept plans for the major projects but will now start creating detailed designs, Superintendent Alan Leis said. The district will then begin applying for the necessary permits.

"We're going to sit with the architects extensively and push the pedal to the metal in terms of moving the process forward, the design process and the permit approval process," Leis said.

But any major site work, especially at Central, won't start until spring 2009 at the earliest.

The district will devote its next work session to discussing how it will proceed. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the administrative center, 203 W. Hillside Road.