The District 113 capital projects are nearing a milestone: decision-making on design plans for Phase 1, which includes new pool and physical education areas and renovations to HPHS 3rd floor A hall.
During the course of a construction project, there are many decisions to be made. The milestones mark the major steps. Key groups are involved in these milestones in addition to the District, the Board of Education, Perkins + Will (architects) and Gilbane (construction manager). Those groups include the oversight committee (including expert volunteers from the community), outside consultants, and the actual user groups. Study groups, including community members, were key voices during the pre-referendum planning stages.
The oversight committee has met with the design team five times to date. Committee members also toured Lake Forest High School, a recent construction project similar in scope, and Loyola University, where the selected engineering firm completed a similar HVAC project.
Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Outside consultants have included traffic engineering, geotechnical engineering and civil engineering firms.
Pool and PE user groups discussed important aspects of the design, such as placement of lockers and optimal layout of pool features and storage.
Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
During the planning, a clear emphasis has been placed on incorporating value engineering, where the least cost and least invasive but most energy efficient systems are chosen. Priority has also been placed on efficient coordination of the many elements.
Perkins + Will presented a summary at the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, October 7. The document includes month-by-month progress, the process for arriving at cost estimates, a review of the overall design, and decision-making for HVAC systems.
To view the full P+W documents, visit the District home page at http://dist113.org/.
Top credit ratings from both Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s rating service helped the District achieve favorable interest rates during the three bond issues that have sold to date: $41,530,000 of Series 2013A bonds closed on 7/3/13; $8,470,000 of Series 2013B bonds closed on 8/21/13; and $22,980,000 of Series 2013C bonds closed on 9/30/13. District 113 is one of only a few schools in Illinois to have top ratings from both agencies.
For other specific school news, please visit Highland Park High School’s website at www.hphs.dist113.org. Follow HPHS on Facebook and Twitter, too!
