02.09.08
Exterior Work Nearing Completion, Interior Moving Along

Exterior work on MCHS District 111's second high school is nearing completion, as crew focus their efforts on the west end of the building (athletics lobby) and the main entrance to the school. Inside, casework and flooring work continue in the academic wing, while the lighting in the main gym has been installed and the gym ceiling has been painted. The ceiling grids in the cafeteria and locker rooms are also being installed.

11.02.07
Landscaping Completed, Building Nearly Enclosed

Work on MCHS District 111's second high school is progressing along as scheduled in an effort to enclose the building before cold weather takes over the area. Landscape work on the site is completed. While exterior work on the west portion of the school is targeted to be completed by Thanksgiving, interior work,such as painting and tile work, has progressed throught the academic wing. Painting has been completed on the first two floors, as has tile work in the restrooms on the first floor.

The MCHS District 111 Board of Education recently invited the Citizens for District 111 - 2006 referendum committee to tour the site of the new school as a "thank-you" for their hard work in making the project a reality. The tour, which was headed by Richard Ach of Turner Construction, coincided with the one-year anniversary of the project's groundbreaking last fall.

Also, Richard Ach of Turner Construction reported to the Board during its September 20, 2007, meeting that landscaping on the site was set to begin on September 24. During the meeting, the Board also approved the installation of a 6-ft privacy fence along the new school's east service drive to serve as a safety and privacy barrier between the school and the homes located to the east side of the drive.

Richard Ach of Turner Construction provided the following update to the MCHS District 111 Board of Education during its meeting on September 6, 2007:

• Curbing is in place and the first coat of asphalt will be installed in the very near future, dependent upon the weather. This process will take three days to complete.
• Landscaping is targeted to commence on September 17.
• First layer of roofing has been installed on the academic wing as window installation continues.
• Drywall work on first floor of academic wing will soon begin.
• Auxiliary gym roof structure work nearly complete.
• Mason work in lobby of main gym area continues.

Terry Fielden from Turner Construction provided the following update to the MCHS District 111 Board of Education during its meeting on August 16, 2007:

• Face brick on academic wing is nearly complete
• Masonry work on kitchen area continues
• Roof is in place for the auxiliary gymnasium
• Precast walls for competition gymnasium are in place, ceiling bar joists are installed
• Curbing for parking lots is in place
• A majority of time lost due to weather early on in the project has been made up

Jennifer Costanzo from STR Partners also presented to the board a display of the school's color schemes. A variety of natural tones will be used throughout the building because school colors have not yet been selected.

Richard Ach from Turner Construction provided the following update to the MCHS District 111 Board of Education during its meeting on July 19, 2007:

• 95% of the site's utility work has been completed
• When site utility work is fully completed, work on parking lots will commence
• Academic wing has been "topped out," meaning that all three floors and the mechanical penthouse atop the wing are all in place
• Glass finishing work on south and east walls of academic wing are completed
• Pre-cast wall panels for main gymnasium are in place
• Building is still targeted for complete enclosure by the end of October 2007

With weather fully cooperating with work crews, overall progress on the new school continues at a steady pace. The masonry work on the third floor of the school's academic wing is near completion, with only placement of pre-cast planking and other final details remaining for that area. Work crews have also begun face brick work on the east portion of the academic wing.

Work crews have continued work on the remaining portion of the school's foundation, with a target completion date for this work estimated for the end of the month.

Masonry crews are also now installing the bearing walls of the administrative portion of the building.

Turner Construction has estimated that the entire building should be enclosed by October.

Work crews have made significant progress on the second floor of the new school's academic wing. Masonry work on the west side of the floor is nearing completion, as crews work on assembling the pre-cast planks that will form the ceiling of the second floor and the foundation of the third floor.

While recent snowfall slowed foundation work on the new school, masonry and pre-cast work on the first floor of the school's academic wing continued throughout February. With masonry and pre-cast plank work completed, work crews began work on the wing's second floor.

In other project news, Turner Construction's Richard Ach told the District 111 Board of Education during a recent meeting that the recent snow has again forced scheduled work to be re-prioritized and re-shifted to keep the project on pace for a Fall 2008 opening.

Masonry work on the new school's first floor has been completed. Pre-cast plank is being put in place and will be followed by masonry work on the second floor of the academic wing.

For images of the masonry work, click here to visit the Photos page.

Work on District 111's second high school has moved at a steady pace thanks mainly in part to the cooperation of the weather. Mild temperatures for this time of year coupled with limited amounts of precipitation have made for ideal working conditions.

Right now, masonry work on the school's academic is underway and can be seen from U.S. Route 6. For images of the masonry work, click here to visit the Photos page.

While heavy rainfall slowed construction efforts on District 111’s second high school for much of September and October, November proved to be a turning point in the overall building process. After construction crews were forced to resort to alternative methods of drying the ground on the school site, concrete pours began in early November.

“The rain has held off enough to allow us to make some progress,” said Terry Fielden of Turner Construction Company. “The site is now in pretty good shape.”

Fielden added that all of the construction time lost due to weather should be made up by December.

As of mid-November, concrete footings for the academic wing were poured.

“From the street, it appears that things haven’t been changing too rapidly,” District 111 Superintendent Dr. David Middleton said. “From a bird’s-eye view, though, you can see that there is a lot of infrastructure work being completed, which will soon be followed by work that will resemble the exteior of a new school. We’re getting there.”

10.18.06
Inclement Weather Slows Start of Construction on New District 111 School

The start of construction on District 111’s second high school got off to a slow start thanks to several days of heavy rainfall, according to David Binkley of Turner Construction.  Binkley addressed this issue, as well as other informational topics, during the District 111 Board of Education meeting October 5, 2006.

“The rain saturated the ground to a point that we really can’t do too much until things dry out,” said Binkley.  A total of ten days were lost due to rain, but the delay is not expected to impact the overall work schedule for the project.

Binkley also informed the Board that foundation work on the academic wing would be completed by the middle of October, and that the building pad preparation on other areas of the school would commence at that time.  He also added that masonry work was set to begin by the end of October.

Binkley also updated the Board on the bidding process for the project’s trade packages.

“Once the bids for masonry, HVAC, and electrical work come in (mid-October), 85% of the project will have been bid,” said Binkley.  He also said that, to date, all awarded packages are, on balance, within budget estimations.

Minooka Community High School District 111 officials hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the district’s new high school on Sunday, September 17, at 2 p.m.  The ceremony marked the official construction commencement of what will become District 111’s second high school.

District 111 Superintendent Dr. David Middleton and District 111 Board of Education President Terry Briscoe were speakers for the event.

“Today marks a historic moment in the history of Minooka Community High School District 111,” Middleton said during the event.  “While we will continue to work through the challenges of overcrowding for the next two years with the use of an overlapping schedule, we now know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a much-needed new school.”

During the ceremony, Briscoe thanked a number of groups, including the Citizens for District 111 - 2006 Referendum Committee, past and present District 111 Board of Education members, the students and staff of MCHS, and the local community.

“Thank you for ultimately supporting our students, current and future, and ensuring that these students will always have a school in which they can receive a quality education,” said Briscoe.

It will take approximately two years to construct the new school, which is planned to open in the fall of 2008.  When the school opens, it will do so as a freshman and sophomore center, with all juniors and seniors attending the current school campus.  The two schools will operate as a split campus until 2014, at which time enrollment projections indicate that phase two of this project should begin.

Minooka Community High School District 111 will host a ground-breaking ceremony for the new high school on Sunday, September 17, 2006, at 2 p.m. The ceremony will take place on the site of the new school, which will be located on the south side of U.S Route 6 between Hunter's Crossing and the new Com-Ed station. A transportation shuttle to and from the ceremony will be available for area residents wishing to attend. The shuttle will leave the MCHS parking lot (outside of Door 1) at 1:45 p.m., and will return to MCHS after the ceremony has ended. For more information, please contact Dave DiLorenzo, District 111 Community Relations Director, at 467.2140, ext. 179.