Renovation projects in the works at Lyons Township High School

Lyons Township High School’s sweeping plans for improving each campus are raring to go, Superintendent Brian Waterman said.

“It’s very exciting,” Waterman said. “We have some pretty significant projects we anticipate will begin later this spring. It’s a three-year project with $40 million to $45 million of upgrades to our campuses.”

Bond sales are funding about $27 million of the work.

“We anticipate utilizing anywhere from $6 million to $10 million from the district’s fund balance,” Waterman said. “And we typically allocate about $2.5 million to $3 million annually toward facility renovations. So when you add all that up, we have an anticipated funding source of $40.9 million to $44.9 million.”

The north and south campuses will both see improvements.

“Every 10 years we have the ability to extend the debt limit and do bond sales. That, typically, has been around $25 million of projects,” Waterman said.

Waterman said the original part of the north campus in La Grange dates to 1888.

The high school’s south campus in Western Springs was built in the late 1950s.

“We have aging facilities that need constant attention,” Waterman said.

The north campus cafeteria was upgraded in 2015 through bond sales.

In fall 2022, needs were identified with focus groups and the advisory council “because we knew this work was coming up,” Waterman said.

“What they identified was modernizing our existing classrooms to meet 21st-century learning. ... Accessibility and life safety upgrades. And also upgrading our HVAC systems,” Waterman said.

Construction of a new cafeteria at the south campus is the biggest project.

“It’s going to go more in the center of our building and extend out into our main courtyard, the same location that our current music areas are housed,” Waterman said. “We’ll renovate our existing cafeteria to music spaces. ... We’re kind of trading.”

Field turf will be installed on the west field athletic complex, which is located a few blocks west of the north campus at the corner of Willow Springs Road and Cossitt Avenue.

“We’re still planning out that project, but we anticipate it would involve the field furthest west on that property,” Waterman said. “We want to continue to modernize our facilities. We’re really excited about this.”

A second phase of improvements has yet to be determined.

“If you look at phase one, one of the projects is identified as modernizing classrooms and adding air conditioning to [the] north campus,” Waterman said. “That project includes about 60 classrooms at [the] north campus, but we have more classrooms than that at north. That’s where phase two comes in. It’s completing what we’re not able to complete in phase one.”

The south campus is the focus this year, Waterman said, and the north campus is the focus in the summer of 2025.