Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Chicago-Area District Adding Secure Entrances to All Schools

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/23/19

An air conditioning and remodel project in a Chicago-area school district is on track to be finished later this summer, though the start of school will be pushed back a bit to accommodate the work. The latest set of construction projects for Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21 covers installation of secure entrances at the school system's 13 schools as well as installation of air conditioning systems.

The work is being funded by a district referendum passed by a wide margin (73 percent) in November 2018, when voters approved release of $69 million in bonds to fund renovations over three years. The funds cover enhancements in site security at all of the district's facilities, including reconfiguration of building entrances into three-point secure entrances. Previously, the district said, visitors had to pass through just one or two checkpoints before gaining access to the schools' hallways and classrooms. Other projects covered by the bond include installation of security cameras and improved exterior lighting, as well as air conditioning and the preparation of physical spaces to offer full-day kindergarten district-wide.

The construction manager for the current phase of work is Gilbane Building Company; architecture and engineering is being provided by ARCON Associates.

"Our contractors have an ambitious amount of work to tackle this summer, but I’m happy to report that after one month of active construction, we are currently on time and on budget," said Superintendent Michael Connolly, in a statement. "We will continue to serve as responsible stewards of the community’s resources and appreciate the trust the community showed in us to take on this project."

To accommodate the current slate of construction work, school starts at the district have been delayed until Sept. 3, 2019.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • school building with glowing circuit board patterns

    AI Is Coming to Schools — But Most School Buildings Still Run on Institutional Memory

    As school districts race to introduce AI into classrooms, administration, and curriculum planning, another conversation is happening behind the scenes: How prepared are school facilities themselves for the operational demands AI will create?