Several big-ticket summer construction projects — including an expansion of the Maine South High School cafeteria and equipping the Park Ridge school with a new fire alarm system — were recently approved by the Maine Township High School District 207 Board of Education.
The board voted to approve more than $5 million worth of projects in a single motion while meeting on April 2.
The vote included a $2.196 million contract with Tyler Lane Construction Inc. for cafeteria work at all three district high schools, plumbing upgrades to Maine South’s concession stand and renovation of some classrooms Maine South and Maine West.
These projects will include building an addition onto the Maine South cafeteria. Assistant Superintendent for Business Mary Kalou said last month that the outdoor patio separating the west side of the cafeteria from the school’s back hallway will be enclosed.
Cafeteria work will also take place at Maine East and Maine West High Schools to increase the amount of student space, but neither will require a building addition, Kalou said.
The plan is to increase student capacity in the schools’ lunchrooms and possibly give students an option to extend their lunch from a half-period to a whole period, Kalou said last month.
Tyler Lane Construction’s bid was the only one received for the projects, which were bid together, Kalou said. She added that the $2.196 million bid came “within budget,” but suggested that the district should begin planning and seeking bids for summer construction projects earlier in the school year in order to attract interest from more contractors.
“We think now that the economy has gotten better we’re probably going to need to push up our timeframe for bidding, which unfortunately means we’ll probably start planning for summer projects in September or October, rather than in November when the board has traditionally seen them,” Kalou said.
Board member Jin Lee expressed concern that only one bid was received and questioned if the district could wait and reach out to other companies and seek participation in the bidding process. But Kalou indicated that there might not be time for that, as the projects must be completed by the time school reopens in mid-August.
“The time crunch is critical,” she said.
The board also approved a $924,000 contract with Contech MSI Co. for the installation of a new fire alarm system at Maine South.
According to a board memo from District 207 Director of Facilities David Ulm, the school’s existing system experienced “severe, but intermittent, faults and alarms” over the last two years, and the district was told that the system, which is original to the building, was failing and had “faults in the wiring.”
Also approved on April 2 was a $1.2 million contract with A Lamp Concrete for “complete reconstruction” of the Maine South tennis courts, as well as paving and striping of the south student parking lot and the main circle driveway. The reconstruction of the tennis courts is required due to “design deficiencies in the original construction,” Ulm wrote in his memo.
Additional board approvals included a $722,400 contract with Chicagoland Paving for resurfacing of Maine East High School’s east parking lot, outer drive and tennis courts, and a $178,657 contract with Arrow Road Construction for paving of driveways and parking lots at Maine West High School.
In March, the District 207 Board of Education approved $2.1 million in partial roof replacements at each of the three high schools, $316,800 in HVAC upgrades at each school, and $273,800 to replace Maine South’s pool filter.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
