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BRADLEY – The architects planning Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School’s $70 million facility overhaul are back to the drawing board with the building’s schematic design.
BLDD Architects, the firm working with BBCHS to plan the renovations, did not give its scheduled presentation during the school board’s finance and facilities committee meeting Thursday.
Ramie Kolitwenzew, chief school business official, said the architects needed more time to determine which features to include in the overall building design to keep their plans within the district’s $70 million budget.
In November, voters approved a referendum to fund $62 million of the renovations, with the district committing to fund the remaining $8 million from its reserves.
The $70 million figure resulted from last year’s community engagement process, where residents were invited through a series of meetings and surveys to weigh in on their priorities for updating the facility. Improving building security, getting students under one roof by eliminating mobile classrooms, expanding cafeteria space and modernizing learning spaces were among the goals identified.
BLDD along with PSI Construction, the construction manager for the project, began consulting with various BBCHS groups in January to determine specific changes needed and desired by teachers and staff.
“Looking at the initial plan that came back from the programming [phase], I did not expect anything to come in under $105 [million],” Kolitwenzew said. “Because there is not a square foot of this building that is not touched by their initial design.”
While estimates came in lower than she expected, the initial design would still exceed the $70 million budget.
Kolitwenzew and Superintendent Matt Vosberg met with BLDD representatives Wednesday to hear about their design progress.
“At this point, while this is a beautiful plan, it’s just not under the scope of the initial community engagement plan,” she said. “Because they wanted to meet the demand and the needs of all of the interests, of everyone.”
The full BBCHS Board was scheduled to vote on the schematic design during its June 9 meeting; however, the vote will be pushed back by about a month.
The schematic design is now slated for a presentation at the June 26 finance committee meeting, followed by a full board vote at the July 14 regular meeting.
“We want a design that is going to fall within the scope of the referendum and the reserve commitment,” Kolitwenzew said.
BLDD and PSI do not anticipate that taking more time on the schematic design will delay BBCHS from being on schedule in the fall, when bid packages for construction work will be prepared.
“It’s more important to get it right from the very beginning than to rush something and have to go back and change it later,” Kolitwenzew said.