Committee presents plans for River Forest middle school's exterior to District 90 board

Click here to see the designs.

A committee behind the effort to improve exterior aesthetics and circulation of vehicles on the campus of River Forest's Roosevelt Middle School will further refine their plans after presenting them to the District 90 board last week.

The Exterior Design Committee showed the school board the low and high-end illustrations of the plan that aims to improve safety and make the building more user-friendly at their meeting June 18.

The committee also presented estimated costs of $610,000 at the low end, close to $1.1 million in the middle and $1.6 million at the high end. Those all include 20 percent for contingency and design costs, but do not account for inflation that will result from phased implementation.

The difference between each plan is the quality of materials used, but all scenarios include improvements to lighting, fencing, signage and bike and re-configured vehicle parking, according to a memo from Anthony Cozzi, D90's director of finance and facilities.

Also consistent in all the plans are a through-drive adjacent to Lathrop Avenue, additional Oak Avenue parking, removal of a swing set on the Jackson Street playground and a reduced north parking lot to accommodate a student plaza. The plaza will connect to a mid-block path, the memo said.

According to meeting minutes, the board agreed they'd like to use materials with the greatest functionality and longest life span, which would likely put the cost in the upper-middle range. Board members will take a survey about the plan's specific elements and inform River Forest residents and stakeholders about the progress.

Meanwhile, the committee will work with D90's architect, Sven Dahlquist, and the consultant Terry Guen Design Associates to determine more specific elements of the plan. A tentative bid is scheduled for next summer, and phased implementation of the project could extend to 2016.

  Roosevelt middle school exterior plans