When visitors tour New Trier High School’s Winnetka campus this weekend as part of the district’s “New Trier Anew” celebration, they’ll be seeing the results of a journey that began nearly a decade ago.
“New Trier Anew,” scheduled for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 15, is a chance to thank community members for their support of the two-year project, according to the New Trier High School District 203 website.
“It’s been such a journey,” said Greg Robitaille, president of the District 203 school board. “It’s really a tale with many, many chapters.”
The story could have ended in 2010, Robitaille said, when voters rejected a $174 million bond referendum aimed at financing a much larger construction project that included athletic facility replacements. That version of the project was created after a workshop group of students, staff and residents created a long-range facilities plan in 2008.
Instead, the district studied its options, listened to voters and came up with a pared-down project that would be paid for by a smaller bond sale, plus existing district reserves, he said.
“We felt that if we asked the community to pay for $89 million of the project, that that $89 million was a number the community could rally behind,” he said.
“They understood that we did have serious infrastructure issues that needed to be addressed,” he said.
In November 2014, roughly 65 percent of voters approved the referendum. The night of the win, then-board president Alan Dolinko told listeners, “Now the hard part starts.”
Robitaille said the plan district officials finally decided on checked all the boxes the Winnetka campus needed.
“I think we solved all of the problems. The academic needs, the cafeteria, the library and music and performing arts sides were all addressed,” he said. “It’s energy efficient, it has ADA compliant and accessible classrooms based on 21st century education needs, a cafeteria that actually accommodates all our students, and we now have world-class theater and fine arts facilities for our world-class programs.”
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The two-phase project began in June 2015 with the demolition of three aging buildings – the 1912 cafeteria, the 1931 tech arts building, and the 1950 music building – on the west side of the campus. It replaced them with one 268,000-square foot building featuring 25 classrooms, three science labs, fine arts facilities, a library and a cafeteria.
The first phase included a new cafeteria and library, as well as third and fourth floor classrooms. It was completed by the 2016-2017 school year. The second phase included the science labs, additional classrooms, multimedia labs, a television and radio station, music rehearsal and practice rooms, the new McGee Theatre, the new Hayes-McCausland black box theater, and the new Ann Brierly Gallery for art exhibits. It opened to students on Sept. 7, according to the district website.
Robitaille said the project’s financial challenges were occasional “nail-biters.”
District officials originally envisioned the project at roughly $100.3 million. By June 2015, however, district officials fine-tuned what would be the first official estimate and set it at $103.5 million, District Supt. Paul Sally said. That eventually climbed to $104.9 million.
“We had to make tough choices about what we couldn’t do,” Robitaille said, before praising donors whose efforts allowed New Trier to add two “green” roof installations and the black box theater back to the project.
The “Raise the Stage” campaign provided $1.2 million for the theater, named in memory of New Trier alumni Mary Catherinbe Hayes and Sarah McCausland, Robitaille said. The school’s Tri-Ship and Girls’ Club contributed $100,000 for the first green roof, and the New Trier Educational Foundation donated $100,000 for the second roof, he said.
“New Trier Anew” begins with a dedication in the school’s Gaffney Auditorium, featuring comments by New Trier alumnus Peter Blair Henry, Dean of New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and a performance by alumnus and opera singer Matthew Polenzani. Visitors can then listen to student entertainment, have light refreshments and tour the building, according to the district website.
For more information on the dedication, visit www.newtrier.k12.il.us/.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy