BBCHS moves to ‘design development’ phase of building project

Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School is now on the third phase of a six-phase process of its planned $70 million facilities overhaul.

While estimated project costs are about $5 million over budget, school officials said that costs can be cut later in the process as plans are more refined.

Designs and costs have not been finalized or approved at this point.

On Monday, the BBCHS District 307 School Board voted unanimously to move past the schematic design phase, where rough schematic plan layouts and estimated cost information were presented, onto the design development phase, where the design will be refined and a more detailed site plan and floor plans will be developed.

Design development is expected to last through October. Then, the construction document phase is scheduled from November through February.

The bidding and negotiation phase is set to begin in March. The final phase will be construction administration, when BLDD Architects will oversee the construction process.

Cost breakdown

Currently, the total base project cost is about $5 million over the district’s $70 million budget, at about $75 million.

The breakdown of the $75 million includes roughly: $5.5 million for general conditions; $3.5 million for site work (site demolition, excavation, etc.); $1.6 million for site concrete (parking lots, courtyard); $513,000 for interior demolition; $17.8 million for remodeling the existing building; $29.7 million for the addition; and $725,000 for miscellaneous mechanical items (gas piping).

About $2.8 million a-piece is included in contingencies for construction, design and bidding, for about $8.4 million total in contingencies. Meanwhile, the PSI construction management fee is about $1.7 million; BLDD’s design fee is about $3.8 million and the furniture allowance is $1.75 million.

Additionally, about $2.5 million in work to upgrade the building’s roofing and its pool and auditorium fire alarm system, and remove galvanized piping are listed as alternates.

These alternate items are anticipated to be covered by Health Life Safety bonds, bringing the total up to about $77.5 million; they are not included in the base project cost because they would be funded separately.

Superintendent Matt Vosberg said the district is early in the process and can still make changes to reduce costs.

He noted it will be easier to pare features down later than it would be to add things back in.

“We are projecting these costs; they could change,” Vosberg said. “[The board’s] vote tonight is just voting that we want to move to the next phase, the design development phase. We have a budget of $70 million, so that’s what we’re going to hit.”

Board member Sally Martell said that while the design was impressive, the board has a duty to make sure the district’s budget is followed.

”My only concern is that we have a responsibility to be the fiduciary representatives for the taxpayers," Martell said.

Board member Lubow Lewicky said it needs to be made clear to the public that the district is simply moving onto the next phase in the process, not approving plans that are $5 million over budget.

Board President Justin Caldwell added that the district “can’t go over budget because there’s nowhere for the money to come from.”

“We’ve already committed $8 million of our own funds, and [the voters] only approved $62 million,” Caldwell said.

Public hearing

At the start of Monday’s meeting, the board held a public hearing regarding the issuance of $62 million in bonds, which is scheduled for October.

Voters approved a referendum to fund the high school’s facilities improvements via bond sales during the Nov. 5, 2024, election.

The district plans to spend $8 million from its own reserves to fund the project as well.

A few residents spoke during the public hearing to ask questions about the project and its expected costs.

“Good schools make for good property values, and so I think that’s important,” said resident Dwight Lockwood. “But something that will deter that is outrageous taxes; we’re pretty well burdened here.”

Lockwood said he believes that good families and teachers matter more for a student’s education than expensive facilities.

“I don’t know if there’s anything you can do to reverse this; the referendum is passed, but you can certainly stop excessive spending,” Lockwood said.

Design process

Damien Schlitt, of BLDD Architects, presented the schematic design to the board.

Before putting together the schematic design, BLDD Architects and PSI Construction met with teachers, administrators and other groups to get input on the building needs, he said.

“Really, this is as it sounds, a schematic for how the building works,” Schlitt said. “We haven’t worked out where every single outlet is, every single duct run, or anything like that. It’s really a matter of how many rooms, where they’re at, where those adjacencies are, and kind of the work that’ll happen within those. This is really the very beginning of the process.”

The schematic design provides an outline of what is going to be within the building. After the board gave the OK Monday night to enter design development, BLDD will now start to put together with more detail “exactly what’s happening within the spaces,” he said.

The more detailed design is slated to come before the board for approval during its Nov. 10 meeting.

“We’re excited to go onto the next phase,” Vosberg said. “A lot of work to be done, but we’re excited about how it’s going to turn out for us in a few years.”

Features

Some features within the schematic design include:

• A field house addition connected to the back of the main building
• 200-meter track, four basketball courts and other dedicated athletic spaces inside the addition
• Main circulation spine to alleviate foot traffic connecting the main building and the addition
• Dining commons area inside the addition with seating for about 400 on both floors (800+ total seating)
• A new elevator inside the addition, for a total elevators in the building
• A courtyard between the addition and the main building
• New main entry on North Street
• Expanded parking with about 100 additional spots
• Relocated tennis courts on the north end of campus
• STEM hub featuring five science labs in the repurposed North Gym space (increased from two labs)
• A math department located on the second story above the STEM hub
• Performing arts hub in repurposed East Gym space
• A library media center moving into the current weight room
• An observation deck above the pool connected through the East gym
• A net of about 16 additional learning spaces