Lockport Central’s ceilings reconstruction timeline laid out

Lockport — Lockport Township High School District 205 is preparing to take the next steps in its repair project for Central Campus’ ceilings.

At the district’s board meeting Monday, Superintendent Robert McBride announced that plans are nearing completion for the demolition of compromised ceilings after months of analysis that began Nov. 2, when a third-floor classroom’s ceiling caved in overnight.

“Simply replacing, removing and putting new ceilings up is more complicated than you think,” McBride said, noting that he has faced many questions about the timeline from parents. “We’ve decided this is really about doing it right rather than doing it quickly.”

Three rooms with ceilings rated “red” or at critical risk of failure already have been removed as part of the emergency repair plan, but other areas deemed medium-to-high risk, or “orange,” now need to go to bid for replacement after one last round of testing in certain sections. That bid process will open Jan. 30 and close Feb. 15.

McBride said the plan is to review the bids for demolition of the ceilings and award a contract at the Feb. 20 board meeting.

Once a contractor is selected, demolition of the affected ceilings is expected to begin in March and reach completion in early April.

“Once the demolition is done, there’s going to be a pause when we’ll have structural engineers come in and take a look up into the ceilings,” McBride said. “It’s a great opportunity to get a look at that structure, and they may have suggestions that will influence the next round of bids for replacement of the ceilings.”

The demolition alone is estimated to cost between $750,000 and $850,000, in part because of the height of the ceilings, which is 14 feet in some areas, and the weight of the plaster and metal-mesh construction ceilings that need to be replaced.

The materials are heavy and contain sharp pieces of metal that need to be removed carefully. Additionally, the plaster ceilings are located behind the visible dropped ceilings, which means hundreds or thousands of ceiling tiles will need to be removed to access the compromised areas.

Once the final engineering inspection is complete, bids can be made to replace the ceilings.

In the interim, the district will learn if its referendum requesting $85 million for larger repairs to Central Campus has been approved by voters in the March 19 primary election.

The district also will receive information from DLA about potential cost savings if more of the renovation work is done immediately with the ceilings, including possible repairs to the building’s roof; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and electrical systems, all of which have shown signs of aging.

This information could influence the ceiling reconstruction bid plans, as well as the plan for where freshmen will attend school next year.

At a special board meeting Jan. 11, McBride said that the option to keep students at Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort for an additional semester or year is being explored “to see if we can outrun inflation by keeping the students at Lincoln-Way a little longer,” but he said “we will not do it if we cannot gain a lot of ground in cost savings.”

It has already been determined that students will not be returning to Central Campus by the end of the school year. Even as plans move ahead to rehabilitate Central, the board noted that more and more of the school’s equipment has been moved over to Lincoln-Way in the past month.

All of the furniture that was being rented to furnish the disused Lincoln-Way campus has been replaced with Central’s furnishings, and the kitchen and foods labs recently were brought back up to the standards typically offered at Central.