UPDATE - August 19 - The Referendum Ballot Question
The following REFERENDUM QUESTION was approved by the OPRFHS D200 Board of Education at its meeting on August 16:
“Shall the Board of Education of Oak Park and River Forest Consolidated High School District Number 200, Cook County, Illinois, build and equip a swimming pool addition to replace the existing 88-year-old swimming pools at the Oak Park and River Forest High School Building; alter, repair and equip said School Building to improve the learning, performing arts and locker room spaces therein; improve the site thereof; build and equip a parking garage to replace the existing parking garage; and issue bonds of said School District in an amount not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of paying costs thereof?”
NOTE: In addition to the to the bond issue, the high school will finance this $45,000,000 project with $20 Million from its reserves. These funds will be used to purchase the existing parking garage from the village, tear it down, and replace it with a smaller parking garage and an aquatics facility that includes a 40 meter by 25 yard swimming pool. In high school aquatics events, 25 yards is the standard lap distance. So depending how you look at it, that is either an 8-lane, 40 meter pool OR a 17-lane, 25 yard pool.
prior post: TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 at 6:30 PM is the next school board meeting.
The AGENDA includes:
*Review and Adopt the Pool and Facility Plans and
*Approve the Resolution providing for and requiring the submission of the proposition of issuing not to exceed $25,000,000 School Building Bonds to the voters of the District at the general election to be held on the 8th day of November 2016.
Here's a LINK to the Agenda for 8/16, where there are additional links to even more information. Among the additional information linked there is the NEW PLAN that trims costs from Plan B. You may recall that the cost of Plan B as announced last month was around $54 million, but the Board directed Legat Architects to come up with modifications to bring the total cost to $45 million.
Here is a LINK to the REVISED PLAN. The document shows 1) line-by- line changes to the accepted plan that bring costs under $45 million, and 2) conceptual drawings of the relevant sections of the building. The changes made to the previous plan include:
reducing support areas around the pool
removing one level to the proposed parking structure
deferring renovation of theater and choir spaces along the east side of the school building
leaving the weight room in its current location
and not planning an additional classroom in the weight room area
The revised plan linked above includes very specific information about the changes to the original proposal for Plan B, and shows line-by-line where the cuts are coming from. Please take a look at it for all the details.
