The record-setting rain of June failed to dampen plans for Wilmette School District 39’s summer construction – four large projects at Romona and Central elementary schools and at Highcrest Middle School – a district official said Monday.
“Each week I go to meetings and I keep expecting someone to drop a (scheduling) bomb on me. It hasn’t happened. It’s a miracle, and we’re on track,” Business Manager Gail Buscemi said. “The rain hasn’t stopped us.”
The four projects, estimated to cost a total of just over $4.1 million, are either done or substantially on schedule to be completed by their original finish date, she said.
The biggest project, a $2.6 million four-classroom addition and replacement of two aging boilers at Romona School, is also the one expected to take the longest to complete. Completion isn’t expected until Dec. 18, but progress is actually slightly ahead of schedule, Buscemi said, because crews were able to begin work in late June, instead of the first week of July.
“We have all the structural steel up. The masons have been there and done the brick walls,” she said. “Our beautiful new boilers are sitting on their pads, and putting in the piping for them will begin next month.”
The Romona additions will allow District 39 to house all of its pre-school programs at the school, Superintendent Raymond Lechner said. Last year, increased elementary level enrollments at Romona forced two classes in the program known as Connecting Kids to Harper School, which will not have enough room to handle them in 2015-16, officials said.
The $1.06 million Central School project, which will remodel Central’s existing library and several classrooms surrounding it into a flexible “learning commons” format, the first such project in the district, is perhaps two days behind schedule, Buscemi said.
“We expect to be done by the start of the school year. Furniture is supposed to be delivered on Aug. 15, and it might be delayed until Aug. 17,” she said.
Highcrest construction crews had two projects on their agenda: a redesign of the school’s parking area and driveways at a cost not to exceed $82,000 and work replacing four sections of school roof for no more than $359,570.
Buscemi said the parking lot renovation, which included adding one driveway to improve traffic circulation at the school, was substantially completed the week of July 24. The final striping will be done during August, she said.
Highcrest roof work was the only project delayed at all by the weather, according to Buscemi: “The start was delayed, but not by very much. They’re finishing this week, so it’s before school begins, which is the important thing.”
Costs for the district’s 2015 summer construction list were slightly more than those for the 2014 season, which stood at roughly $4 million, Buscemi said.
“The difference between this year and last year is that our projects were contained at three buildings. Last year, the work hit more buildings,” she said. “That required a lot more scheduling.”
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy