New science labs part of major construction at Glenbard West this summer
Work to enhance roadway safety on Crescent Boulevard in Glen Ellyn, bring new science classrooms to Glenbard West High School, and air-condition the school's Biester gym is slated for this summer.
Community members got a glimpse of the three major improvements at a Wednesday informational session hosted by Glenbard High School District 87 at the high school, 670 Crescent Blvd. in Glen Ellyn.
One of the projects is the construction of an addition to the school, which will house eight new science labs. Work on the addition will start this summer and the project, which includes renovating existing science classrooms into regular ones, is expected to be completed next summer.
"The goals of the project is not to increase the capacity of the school, rather relieve overcrowding," said Rob Wroble, senior project manager with Legat Architects. "The school is very overcrowded, and there's a lot of classrooms that are undersized."
The entire science addition project is estimated to cost from $12.5 million to $13.4 million, which officials said will be funded through money from the district's operating budget and from a $35 million referendum proposal voters approved last year.
"It's going to give students the space to be able to move around, to be able to experiment, to be able to really get excited about their work on a daily basis," Glenbard West science department Chairman Sean Byrne said.
Besides eight new science labs, the addition is also slated to house collaborative nodes where people can meet and interact, and green roofs for potential outdoor learning spaces.
The village's project to reconstruct Crescent Boulevard near the high school between Park Boulevard and Lake Road is expected to begin in June and be substantially completed in August.
The road project includes improving the intersection at Crescent and Park, bringing in new parallel parking lanes, constructing a decorated median on Crescent, and creating a roundabout at Crescent Boulevard, Park Row and Crescent Court.
"One of the challenges that we are trying to solve is the amount of U-turns that go on in front of the school," village engineer Bob Minix said. "Basically with the median that we're going to install in front of the school, that will be prohibited."
The village's Crescent Boulevard project costs about $3.5 million. The village will fund about $1.7 million of that project, and another $1.7 million will come from federal funds. The district's contribution to that project will not exceed $75,000.
The school's Biester gym will also be improved, with air conditioning and new energy-efficient lighting installed.