Lockport High School officials look to bonding authority after failed $85 million referendum
In the aftermath of the referendum, Lockport District 205 will investigate other potential life safety issues that can be done within its bonding authority. This includes updates to the roof, electrical, heating and cooling, masonry, windows and bathrooms to make the building more handicap accessible.
Lockport Township High School District 205 officials plan to survey the community and will hold a special meeting next month to prepare next steps after voters rejected an $85 million referendum to renovate its historic Central Campus.
The board met Monday for the first time since 53.43% of voters March 19 opposed funding Central Campus improvements.
“Whether you voted yes or you voted no, there is still work to do,” Superintendent Robert McBride said.
McBride said the board has researched improvements to its Central Campus, built in 1909, well before the ceiling collapsed in Room 310 last fall and closed the school, causing the district’s freshmen to be bused to the former Lincoln-Way North High School.
An estimated cost of the ceiling collapse is about $4 million, including rent at Lincoln-Way North, busing, gas, tolls and replacing the ceilings to 23 classrooms, district officials said.
In the aftermath of the referendum, district officials will investigate other potential life safety issues that can be done within their bonding authority. This includes updates to the roof, electrical, heating and cooling, masonry, windows and bathrooms to make the building more handicap accessible.
“The message from the community is you can’t do a full-scale renovation, so what can you do with your bonding power to head off any future failure of that building,” McBride said.
If the district chooses to do life safety work in summer 2025, decisions will have to be made soon to allow enough time for materials to be ordered, McBride said.
Surveys about the district’s facilities are expected to be sent to the community in the coming week or so.
The district is also working with a group of community members with backgrounds in finance, operations, construction, architecture and engineering to act as a sounding board.
Residents are invited to a special board meeting at 6 p.m. May 13 at its East Campus, 1333 E 7th St., that will focus on finances and facilities. Residents can ask questions and learn about architecture, bonds, district finances, facilities and how to be involved in the discussion, McBride said.
The school board may also approve bids for ceiling reconstruction at the May 13 meeting. The board will also hold its regularly scheduled meeting May 20 and could discuss next steps.
Work is continuing at Central Campus to replace the ceilings so the building can reopen in August.
District officials said they are nearly finished with the first two phases of work, which included demolition and a structural engineering visual inspection. The next step will be to rebuild the ceilings.
The project has not been without any snags.
Demolition crews began removing the plaster ceiling in the server room without adequately protecting the servers, and it is unknown if any servers were damaged.
The structural engineering firm found that some areas of the roof structure need more work. According to district documents, there are not any major structural issues but a few areas that need to be addressed.
Once the ceilings were opened, officials found asbestos pipe insulation in poor condition that must be removed. The board approved an emergency bid Monday from DEM Services, Inc. for $67,900 so that work can begin next week and be finished by May 15.
The district also has to replace some domestic water lines that were in poor condition and tuck point interior brick masonry walls. Masonry work includes fixing cracks and filling in loose mortar joints and missing mortar in between the bricks and the window lintels, according to district documents.
The board approved a tentative amended budget Monday for fiscal year 2023-2024 and will vote on a final amended budget on June 17, said Stefanie Croix, director of business services.
The collapse of the classroom ceiling in November and the approval of the debt service tax levy abatement resolutions in December both required adjustments to the 2023-2024 budget as defined by Illinois School Code, Croix said.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.