Mundelein High graduation moving in 2012

The students in Mundelein High School’s Class of 2012 will graduate at a different location than their predecessors, officials said Tuesday.

The school’s 2010 and 2011 graduation ceremonies were staged at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, but the site isn’t available for commencement next May because of a conflict with another event on the planned date, Principal Lauren Fagel told the board.

Administrators now are eyeing the Libertyville Sports Complex, a sprawling indoor facility on Route 45 at Peterson Road, as the likely replacement site.

About 525 seniors are expected to graduate in May, Superintendent Jody Ware said.

The main gym at the sports complex has been offered for the ceremony, according to a District 120 memo.

The sports complex can accommodate more than 4,000 people, officials said, so each graduate will be allotted six tickets for family members as usual, Fagel said. An audience of 3,250 people is expected.

Renting the space is expected to cost about $30,000, roughly the same fee district officials paid to use the fairgrounds this past spring. A contract has not been finalized.

“It’s close, and it’s cost effective,” Fagel said. “I think it will be just as nice if not nicer than what we had the last two years.”

Parking will be available at the sports complex and at a nearby corporate park, Fagel said. As in previous years, graduates will be bused to the graduation site from the high school campus.

Officials investigated several possible sites before settling on the sports complex, Fagel said. The Genesee Theatre in Waukegan was considered, but officials decided it was too small, she said.

Mundelein High graduations were held at the Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church in Lake Zurich from 2005 to 2009. Before then, they were staged in the school stadium or inside if bad weather prevented an outdoor ceremony.

The District 120 board took no formal action Tuesday.