Plans for additions to Park Ridge’s two high schools cleared the city’s first zoning hurdle this month.
The Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission on Dec. 9 voted 8-0 to recommend approval of a new hallway and a courtyard enclosure at Maine South High School, and a field house addition, courtyard enclosure and vestibule addition at Maine East High School.
The recommendations are expected to go before the Park Ridge City Council for a vote in January. The Park Ridge Appearance Commission is scheduled to review the exterior look of the additions on Dec. 19.
The additions are part of a $240.7 million improvement project across all three Maine Township High School District 207 schools that voters approved in a 2018 bond referendum. This includes Maine West High School in Des Plaines as well as Maine East and Maine South.
At Maine South, plans calls for construction of a new hallway at the rear of the building, connecting the center of the school with the A-Wing building, and enclosing an existing, open-air courtyard currently located in the C-Wing.
In all, the additions consist of 10,600 square feet of new building space, the planning and zoning commission was told.
Mary Kalou,District 207’s assistant superintendent for business, said the goal of the new rear hallway is to improve safety at the school by keeping students indoors and keeping doors locked during passing periods. Currently, large numbers of students leave the building and cut across an outdoor walkway to get from the C-Wing to the A-Wing, she said.
“Now we’re simply going to enclose that sidewalk into a hallway, alleviate the congestion and allow them to have two entrance points to what are two main areas of the building,” Kalou told the planning and zoning commission. “We sold it as a safety item because once you’re inside the building, we want to make sure we’re securing you inside.”
The enclosed courtyard in the C-Wing will add instructional space, Kalou said.
Craig Siepka, of the architectural firm Wight and Company, explained that the work at Maine South will also include a new, secure front entrance that will change the look of the front of the building.
Siepka explained that the entrance will be relocated to the south and the glass wall in the middle of the building will be replaced with a combination of glass and masonry.
The changes will add security, better energy efficiency and “a new, refreshed look of the school,” Siepka said.
Most of the improvements scheduled for Maine South as part of the referendum approval will be inside the building, Siepka indicated.
“The vast majority of the interior space will see something happen to it,” Kalou added, explaining that this includes new paint, lighting and furniture, among other aspects.
At Maine East, a two-story, 22,500-square-foot addition is proposed for the southern wall of the existing field house; a first-floor walkway will be enclosed between the western wing of the school and the courtyard building; and a glass vestibule will be added to the connection point from the courtyard building to the eastern wing of the school.
Siepka stressed that no changes to the main entrance facade of the 90-year-old, art deco-style school are planned.
“We are keeping all that great architecture in place,” he said.
The new first-floor walkway that is planned will also keep students inside the building, Siepka indicated. The field house addition will have locker rooms, training facilities, storage, fitness and instruction space, he said.
Like Maine South, the majority of the improvements that are planned at Maine East will be inside the school, Siepka said.
Stormwater detention will also be added at both schools, the planning and zoning commission was told.
According to District 207, the improvements scheduled at all three schools are expected to take place over four years.
Work on the field house addition at Maine East, and the new hallway and front hall exterior renovation at Maine South are scheduled to occur within the first phase of the district’s construction projects, according to District 207. Phase 1 will largely take place over the summer months, with some work continuing into the 2020-21 school year, the district indicated.
Phase 1 work that is expected to be complete by the 2020-21 school year will include classroom renovations at each school; new secured entrances at all three schools; the relocation of the nurse’s office at Maine East; career and technical education renovations at Maine South and Maine West; and renovation of visual arts classrooms at Maine South, the district announced.
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
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