Community Consolidated Elementary District 181 spent more than $2 million over the summer making improvements to its facilities.
“The work has been very swift and has had a huge impact on the schools,” board member Sarah Jakobsen said. “The flooring at CHMS has been great. The library at Prospect, night and day.
“It’s all very impressive,” she added.
The flooring replacement at Clarendon Hills Middle School was the most expensive of the projects, coming in at about $665,000. The project originally was planned for last year, but the board rejected the sole bid it received and then postponed the project. With value engineering, the cost was brought down almost $261,000 from the initial bid of $925,905.
Other projects completed this summer are
• gym floor replacement at Madison, Prospect, Oak, The Lane and Monroe, $390,700
The vinyl Taraflex flooring in these gyms was at the end of its useful life and was replaced.
• fire panel and device replacement at Monroe, $252,000
The existing fire panel and related devices, which had aged and were giving off false alarms, were replaced.
• media resource center remodels at The Lane, $164,485, and at Prospect, $158,450
The MRCs received new paint, new flooring and all new furniture. Due to material shortages, furniture has yet to be delivered to The Lane, but it is expected to arrive this week.
• detention sitework at Prospect, $103,000
Over the past few years, the ground within and around the detention pond at the school was receding, causing existing drainage systems to fail.
Pumps were upgraded and the land was regraded.
• tuckpointing at Elm, Madison and The Lane, $88,118
• paving at Elm, $84,576
This project remained the last portion of the school parking lot that hadn’t been recently replaced.
• sitework at The Lane, $44,340
The athletic field at the school was excavated, sub-surface drain tiles were installed and the field was leveled, graded and seeded. The tiles were connected to the existing storm sewer system under the parking lot. The field will be ready for use in the spring.
• security upgrades at CHMS and Walker, $46,970
Interior and exterior cameras were installed at CHMS ($38,962) and new cart readers were installed at two locations at Walker ($8,008).
• gym sound system upgrade at CHMS, $24,537
The district made use of cooperative purchasing and completed several of the projects — including the gym floor replacement at five schools — in-house to achieve significant savings.
Facilities director Mike Duggan praised the efforts of the custodial and maintenance staff for having schools in beautiful shape for the start of school last month.
