The Lyons Township High School District 204 Board of Education awarded a $30.5 million-contract for major construction work mainly at LT’s South Campus next year.
The unanimous vote awarded the contract Waukegan-based Happ Builders.
The work will include construction of a new, two-story cafeteria-collaborative space at South Campus; the relocation and renovation of the music area at South Campus; the addition of air conditioning to the South Campus E-Wing; replacement of pool and fieldhouse lighting at South Campus; and the replacement of decaying doors at both the North and South Campus.
The cost is about $6.5 million more than originally forecast because bids came in higher than expected. But the school board, at the suggestion of board member Elvia Nava, who was appointed last year to fill a vacancy created after Julie Swinehart moved out of state, is saving some money. Happ mistakenly underbid its proposal to replace the doors, but said they’d honor the price. The board accepted.
“It just seems like it makes more sense to go with Happ,” Nava said. “I would prefer to save some money and take care of our school.”
Construction begins this summer.
Adding the air conditioning to the E-Wing at South Campus will make South Campus approximately 90% or more air conditioned.
Because the bids came in higher than expected, the administration and the school board decided not to build ticket booths outside Bennett Field. That will save $90,000 to $100,000.
The school board also awarded a $209,000 contract for asbestos removal to Chicago- based Shawn Brown Enterprises in conjunction with the construction work. The next lowest bid was for $298,500 from Wauconda based EHC Industries. That difference raised some eyebrows, but the school’s consultant checked out the references of Shawn Brown Enterprises and said that they appear to be reliable and competent, although the consultant didn’t have any firsthand experience with the firm. Director of Business Services Brian Stachacz confirmed that Shawn Brown pays prevailing wages. Shawn Brown Enterprises is based on South Side of Chicago and is a Black-owned firm.
The cost of the work this summer means that LT may have to scale back on the work that school officials hope to do in 2025. Projects that were tentatively scheduled for 2025 include the modernization of about 46 North Campus classrooms, adding more air conditioning to North Campus, installing a new turf field at the West Field athletic complex, replacing the turf field at Bennett Field and performing maintenance on the D-Wing roof at South Campus.
That work is expected to cost $20 million to $24 million, but LT currently has only about $14 million budgeted for that work.
Supt. Brian Waterman said that perhaps the mechanical work can be done first and the classroom modernization can be phased in at a slower pace than previously projected.
“It’s going to require some significant discussion,” Waterman said.