St. Charles School District set to spend over $5.3 million to repurpose Lincoln Elementary

After deciding to repurpose several elementary schools to combat overcrowding last summer, St. Charles School District 303 is moving forward with construction plans for this summer to have facilities ready for the fall semester.

Starting in the 2024-25 school year, Fox Ridge Early Childhood Center will become an elementary school, early childhood care will be moved to the Haines Center and Lincoln Elementary School will be repurposed to house transition programming and staff offices.

Considerable construction is required to make these changes and the School Board has been working to approve construction contracts for work to begin this summer. In January, School Board members approved over $7 million in construction contracts for the Haines Center, and are now moving forward with planned renovations at Lincoln Elementary.

At their Feb. 5 Business Services Committee meeting, School Board members reviewed construction contracts and abatement work planned for Lincoln this summer, and are set to approve over $5.3 million worth of work at their Feb. 12 meeting.

The repurposing of the Lincoln facility to house transition programming will require a wide scope of construction work including roofing, flooring, plumbing, painting, electrical and mechanical work, as well as the abatement of asbestos and lead based paint.

The total pre-purchase and construction cost is estimated at $5,175,501 and includes work from 11 different contractors. The total cost would be payed to construction manager Pepper Construction, which was contracted by the board last summer to oversee the full scope of the renovation.

A full breakdown of the scope of construction work can be reviewed here.

Board members also reviewed a separate proposal for the abatement of asbestos and lead-based paint from Lincoln at their Feb. 5 meeting. As proposed, the school district would pay $168,068 to Weaver consultants group for the abatement, which would be performed by Nationwide Environmental and Demolition, LLC of Park Ridge.

A full breakdown of the abatement costs can be reviewed here.

Board member recommended approval of both the renovation construction contract and the proposal for abatement at Lincoln, for a total of over $5.3 million worth of work on the facility this summer. Both contracts will go before the board for possible separate actions at their Feb. 12 meeting.

If both are approved, Pepper Construction will begin procurement the next day and the abatement process is expected to begin immediately following the end of the school year. Projected timelines show construction work beginning in June and the entire project including abatement and renovation substantially complete in October.