Mundelein High's new STEM wing to be ready for school start
With the start of the 2016-17 term a month away, Mundelein High School Superintendent Kevin Myers is confident a new wing dedicated to science, technology, engineering and math will be ready when students and teachers arrive.
Myers is in a good position to know - the three-story structure is being built just outside his office window, and he's been able to watch the daily progress on the $23.7 million project since it began in April 2015.
The nearly 52,000-square-foot wing is the first major addition to Mundelein High's Hawley Street campus since 1997. It will feature classrooms, science labs, an area for experiments, offices and other amenities.
And according to Myers, everything is pointing to the building being ready for an Aug. 9 opening. Furniture for the new wing is set to be delivered July 22.
"The building looks just like we had envisioned," Myers said. "The entire facility is impressive."
Myers is particularly enthralled by the labs, which he said will allow students to "envision, create, and experiment as if they were in a business environment."
He's also excited about open spaces that have been dubbed "flexible classrooms" because they will allow students to more easily work in small or large teams.
Mundelein High School District 120 school board member Jane Siegal said the wing "just looks beautiful."
"It's big and impressive and it looks like a university," she said. "What a feather for us, to have something this spectacular."
An $8.3 million state grant will cover about 35 percent of the project's cost. The rest of the cash will come from a loan.
An election-time request for a tax-rate increase wasn't necessary.