Other than some finishing touches with hardware, Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 has completed about $1.4 million in summer improvement projects at some of its schools.
The most noticeable changes are a new asphalt surface for the parking lot and asphalt and mulch surfaces for the playground at Elm School, where there is also a new gym floor. The costs of the resurfacing was about $237,000 and the gym floor cost about $84,000, according to Mike Duggan, District 181’s director of facilities.
Duggan said the gym floor was 15 years old.
“That’s about the expected life for that and should be again now with the new floor,” he said.
Oak School received a $416,000 upgrade with a full replacement of the vinyl tile throughout the building, and Monroe School benefitted from a $38,000 tuckpointing job, something Duggan said was needed for the 91-year-old building.
Clarendon Hills Middle School received LED lights to replace the fluorescent lighting in the building at a cost of about $123,000. The LED lights are more efficient and last longer.
The most costly summer project was about $587,000 for new building doors and hardware at Clarendon Hills Middle, Elm and Madison schools. Duggan said that upgrade was both for security and to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He said the new doors are more secure and have levers, rather than knobs, which make them easier to handle for some people with disabilities.
Oak School and the new Hinsdale Middle School already have received the upgraded doors. The district’s remaining buildings will be scheduled for the same work, Duggan said.
He said all of the summer work has been completed on time, without problems. The remaining door hardware to be installed will be completed by the start of school later in August.
In 2018, an architect identified needed improvements in District 181 schools that will cost $2 million to $2.5 million in each of the next five years and suggested the district should allocate about that much for each of the next 10 years to properly maintain its facilities.