Architect presents Edison, Bryan additions to D205 Board

At the Elmhurst District 205 School Board meeting on Tuesday, April 23, a presentation as provided from representatives of the district’s architect—Wight & Company—regarding design concepts for upcoming additions at Edison Elementary School and Bryan Middle School. Those additions are included in the master facilities plan funded by the $168.5 million, voter-approved referendum from the 2018 general election.

Craig Siepka, a vice president, project executive and design principal at Wight & Company, gave the bulk of the presentation. Siepka and District 205 Superintendent David Moyer noted that all of the referendum-related projects will be spread over about six years, and paid with three separate bond issues. The work at Edison and Bryan will take place first because those schools will take on additional students while Lincoln Elementary School and Field Elementary School are rebuilt.

The work at Edison has a budget of $18.1 million, and a preliminary targeted construction window of April of 2020 to August of 2021. The work at Bryan has a budget of $10.8 million, with the same targeted window of April of 2020 to August of 2021. Those projects are included in Group 1 of the overall referendum-related construction schedule. That schedule includes five groups.

In addition to the work at Edison and Bryan, Group 1 of the schedule includes work to build secure entries at Churchville Middle School, Sandburg Middle School, Jackson Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School and Fischer Elementary School. The projects at Sandburg, Jackson and Jefferson each have budgets of $1 million. The project at Fischer has a $950,000 budget, while the project at Churchville has a $600,000 budget. The work to build secured entries at those five schools is scheduled to take place in the summer of 202s0.

Group 2 of the referendum-related work includes the construction of the new Lincoln School. That project reportedly has a budget of $32.5 million, with a scheduled targeted window of June of 2021 to August of 2022. Lincoln’s students will be relocated during the 2021-2022 school year.

Speaking about the Group 1 projects at Edison and Bryan, Siepka stated those projects are in the design phase. When the design phase is completed, the projects will be prepared for bids and contracts will be awarded.