The renovation of the East campus, which began last spring, has made much progress during the summer and is on schedule to be completed in the 2017-2018 school year.
This past summer, construction crews have been at the school daily, tearing down and rebuilding as much as they could before students came in for the new school year.
Niki Dizon, Director of Communications, explained that the summer is when the bulk of the work has to be done. “With construction on a large project like this, the summer is when we have to get our dirtiest, noisiest work out of the way. This summer it was demolition and excavation.”
Dizon, who handles communication with neighbors and community members, said there was great excitement and support for the project over the summer, even with the dust, dirt, and noise: “People are very enthusiastic to actually see the project taking place; they can actually visualize it now.”
Pat Sumrow, the district project facilitator and consultant, said the response has been positive from teachers and project workers as well: “Hundreds of hours of input have been gathered from the teachers and building leaders who are extremely excited about the new addition to New Trier.”
Although there is much support for the project among the community now, as many remember, a different project was originally proposed in 2010, but failed to pass. As senior Sarah Arment recalls, “I remember hearing about the referendum before and I was excited about it, but it just seemed too expensive.”
Much has changed between then and now, however. The original referendum was $174 million, a price voters felt was too high to agree to, according to Dizon.
“We went back and we really listened to the community, and surveyed them. We put forth a new plan that we really though the community could get behind,” said Dizon. The budget for the 2014 referendum proposal was just over half the 2010 cost, at $89 million, while the current project budget remains a little over $100 million.
With the support of the New Trier community, construction began last spring.
“At the end of last year, there was very minimal work done on the building,” Dizon said. The largest portion done was to begin preparations to tear down the Tech-Arts Building, which moved many students and staff into trailers.
This summer, the actual demolition began immediately after school ended, with crews moving in to excavate the area to make way for a new basement. Compared to what’s on track for the next year, the T-Wing’s destruction is just the tip of the iceberg.
“In the fall, we’ll see some steel go up, and the goal is that by winter break, we’ll have what they call the envelope [the outside of the building] all boxed in,” said Dizon. “On the East side of the campus, we’ve expanded Essex Road. Now, there are actually two lanes, a drop-off lane and a through lane.”
Along with a new art building and the extra lanes, construction is also being done on the cafeteria, library, and many classrooms, including outdated science labs.
With construction and interior reconstruction continuing into the school year, there are ample student concerns.
For senior Soofia Nikamal, the concern is specifically about noise and getting around the school without the same ease as before construction began.
“A lot of hallways are blocked off, and the crews are working during the school day. I hope that I can go about my day as normally as before,” said Nikamal.
Sumrow spoke to these concerns, saying “Based upon my experience with other major high school construction projects, the construction project will proceed at a rapid pace as school is in session. Generally, both functions can coexist well.”
Dizon added “For students, faculty and staff, we need to talk about things like hallways–you might have to go a different route to classes this year, and we’re going to do our best to monitor any noise generated from the construction, said Dizon. “We want to make sure that students have the same, great experience that they’ve always had at New Trier.”