The board of education for Komarek School District 94 in North Riverside plans to embark on an estimated $1.8 million facilities improvement project this summer, one that includes new windows for the school buildings, a renovation of the science lab, boiler replacement and upgrades to its security lighting and intercom system.
The work will be funded by the sale of life safety bonds and be completed prior to the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, according to Superintendent Neil Pellicci. Bids have been solicited for the work and will be opened Feb. 17. The school board is expected to choose winning bids in March.
District 94 employed FGM Architects to put together the specifications for design and the bid package. FGM was the architectural firm Brookfield-LaGrange Park District 95 employed to design the classroom addition at Brook Park School and a variety of upgrades at S.E. Gross Middle School during 2007 and 2008.
According to Pellicci, the district will retire bonds issued for a tuckpointing project at the end of the 2008-09 school year and is in the final years of a second bond issue used to install an elevator in the building.
Pellicci said that the most critical part of the project is replacing all of the windows on campus.
“The problem is getting to the point where the metal lintels are starting to bow and affect the brick work,” Pellicci said. “Our biggest problem is stabilizing some windows.”
The new windows will be an energy-efficient double-pane type and metal panels installed in the 1960s and 1970s in the original window openings will be replaced with glass.
In addition to the windows, the 1972-era science lab that is used by the sixth, seventh and eighth grades will get a much-needed makeover.
“It’s in need of improvement,” Pellicci said. “The faucets and equipment are either dated or do not work properly.”
Two boilers that are approximately 20 years old in the east building at Komarek School will be replaced and a new intercom system is slated for installation. The school has actually been without an intercom system since 2005, when wires had to be cut in order to do improvements to the building at that time. Since then, the school has used the phone system as an intercom.
“This needs to be improved so we can contact every area of the building,” Pellicci said.
Security cameras and lighting are also part of the plan.
“We have a very low incidence of vandalism, but we’re concerned when we see incidents around us,” said Pellicci, who referred to the Thanksgiving weekend break-ins at S.E. Gross School in Brookfield.
While the school board would like to complete all five projects this summer, it all depends on the bids the district receives. With the construction industry facing tough times, Pellicci is hopeful that bids will be competitive.
“We might be able to get them at a reasonable price,’ he said.