As construction continues on Elgin Community College’s new Public Safety Training Center in Burlington and Lakeside Plaza on the south side of the main campus, the next building project on ECC’s agenda will be Building M West.
The ECC Board this week gave authority for a general contractor, IHC Construction of Elgin, to hire a group of low-bidding contractors to work on Building M West for no more than $931,351.
Vice President for Business Sharon Konny said the work will include converting two standard classrooms into a computer classroom and a “smart classroom;” renovating the restrooms; upgrading electrical service, lighting and paint, and replacing the carpet in Building M’s central corridor to connect the east and west sections and to provide a more cohesive appearance.
“This building was built in 1991 and has received partial remodeling over the past 25 years but is now outdated and does not serve our students’ needs,” says an explanation of the project written by the college administration.
More Top Picks Best High Efficiency Washing Machines
Building M West is used by the college’s Office Administrative Technology, paralegal, fire science, business, Intensive English and math programs and also houses the Office Administrative Technology computer lab.
The college will pay for the work with proceeds from bonds authorized in the college’s last building bond referendum.
Also during this week’s meetings on Monday and Tuesday, Dr. David Sam said a date has been set for the grand opening of the ECC Public Safety Training Center being built along Plank Road in Burlington. That will be April 13, 2016. And the board authorized the last construction contracts for building the center, which will house the college’s fire and police training programs.
However, the board got some bad financial news related to the Burlington construction. ECC Construction Director Paul Dawson said a “change order” adding $125,159 to the cost will have to be approved because Kane County is requiring a different kind of pavement than originally expected by the college’s general contractor and engineers in the area where Plank Road is being widened. The soil there also has turned out to be unsuitable for supporting a road. Dawson said the road has to be widened to make way for left-turn lanes so drivers entering the new campus don’t get rear-ended by high-speed traffic along Plank.
The speed limit there is 45 mph, “but they’re not doing 45. They’re doing 60,” Dawson said. However, Dawson said three previous change orders on the Burlington project have resulted in the total Burlington price being reduced by $50,000.