Huntley High field house construction nearing end
Workers are putting finishing touches on Huntley High School's new indoor athletic field house that's part of a roughly $35 million construction/renovation project to increase the school's capacity to 3,000 students.
It took four weeks for workers to install the multipurpose, rubber athletic flooring for the 55,800-square-foot field house. Striping of the six-lane, 200-meter running track began Monday.
The field house construction eliminated one of three gymnasiums, which only had one basketball court.
"This field house will have four (courts)," said Doug Renkosik, director of operations and maintenance for Huntley Community School District 158.
The courts will be used for tennis, badminton, volleyball, basketball and pickle ball.
The total 70,000-square-foot athletic facility will include areas for pole vaulting, batting cages, a larger weights area in what was formerly the wood shop, a fitness room in the former weight room, a mats room for wrestling, and athletic and physical education locker rooms. It has heating and ventilation systems, but no air conditioning as it is architecturally designed to cool naturally with zoo fans to circulate air and energy efficient LED lighting, officials said.
Additional athletic field improvements, including two softball diamonds, underground irrigation of football practice fields and the two renovated softball diamonds, resurfacing of eight tennis courts with a new fence around it, and a new main entrance for the field house, were among the improvements completed last summer.
Exterior work on expanding parking lots for students, staff and visitors, creating a separate school bus parking area, and driveway modifications, including a new student access drive, were completed last fall.
Huntley High School - built in 1996 to house 300 students - has seen multiple additions as enrollment has climbed to roughly 2,700 students. The school's student population is expected to peak at 3,000 as early as the 2016-2017 school year. The core areas and infrastructure of the school were never updated during earlier additions.
"We've been working on this so long, it's nice to see it come together," District 158 Superintendent John Burkey said. "In two months, we're going to have kids in here. Other than the striping, it's basically done."
Work also is progressing on an expanded cafeteria commons area with a serving line and a roughly 7,600-square-foot Learning Resource Center with two additional classrooms in the space where the former West Gym and locker rooms used to be, both of which will be completed this school year. The former Learning Resource Center is being demolished to expand the cafeteria.
The football stadium also is getting a facelift this summer with a new exterior entrance comprising brick columns, decorative fencing and a gate with an arch, and new ticketing areas. The work is expected to be completed by early September.
A two-story science wing also is under construction and is expected to be completed by next summer. It will add eight classrooms and science labs, toilets for students and staff, and four additional science storage rooms.
The entire project is being funded through a $39 million construction grant from the state.