$84.6 million. That’s the projected cost of the third major stage of plans to renovate and modernize Oak Park and River Forest High School.
At the June 11 OPRF District 200 school board meeting, the district presented the projected cost for what school officials are calling Act 3 — the proposed demolition and rebuilding of the southwest corner of the building that will expand classrooms, plus spaces for the performing arts and physical education.
On June 25, the school board will vote on the proposed scope and budget for Act 3, which it appears likely to approve based on the June 11 discussion.
“We’re really excited about bringing this process forward,” said OPRF District 200 Superintendent Greg Johnson when he introduced the June 11 presentation by Gilbane’s construction manager Jeremy Roling. “This is a significant build, but it is one that is certainly needed for our programming to get caught up to the quality of the programming that the students are producing here.”
Though Act 3’s demolition is tentatively planned to begin in 2028 and be completed in 2030, final approval will not place until December. That’s when the school board will have to determine how to pay for the project. A likely funding option is an April 2027 bond referendum that would give voters the chance to determine whether or not the project goes forward — something that did not happen with the first two stages of the project.
“We haven’t had any of those discussions yet because we are focusing on understanding the cost,” said School Board President Audrey Williams-Lee in a telephone interview.
Act 3 construction would create new and larger music classrooms and practice spaces, a new black box theater, plus storage space for music and theatrical equipment. School officials say that the current performing arts spaces, which were built in 1967, are outdated, too small, and not tailored to modern technology and teaching practices. Act 3 would also include new physical education spaces like a cardio room, a multipurpose gym to replace the existing West gym, and adaptive physical education gym and locker rooms. The mural on the West Gym wall will be preserved.
In Act 3, performing arts space will be more than doubled, going from 10,612 square feet to 22,224 square feet. Band, orchestra and choir practice spaces will be two stories tall to allow for better acoustics.
Act 3 comes on the heels of Project 2, an approximately $102 million demolition and rebuilding of a new swimming pool, physical education and athletic spaces in the building’s southeast corner. Construction is expected to be completed this summer. Project 1, which included new student commons and added 15 new classrooms, was completed in 2023 at a cost of $42.2 million.
After the schematic design for Act 3 was completed in May, the initial cost estimate came in just over $100 million. But the administration and architects worked with Gilbane on “value engineering,” reducing the estimate to $84.6 million to make the project more affordable and an easier sell to taxpayers.
“We have done work throughout the past several weeks to whittle this down to a point where it is fiscally responsible to bring forward, based off the design elements that are within it, without sacrificing the programming that has been identified along the way,” Johnson said.
Significant savings come from changing the acoustic system from a double slab “Cadillac” system to a cheaper, but still good, single slab system that is projected to save about $4 million by using less steel.
“You’re not going to get Carnagie Hall acoustics, but you will get significantly better acoustics than you have now,” said Alyson Sternquist, the lead architect on the project.
Johnson said that none of the changes will impact the student experience. Other moves to save money include using cheaper flooring in some spaces.
“There’s nothing in here that’s extravagant or more than it should be,” Sternquist said of Act 3 designs that are based on function.
Actual construction costs are estimated to be nearly $74.8 million. An additional $9.7 million includes payments to architects, the construction manager, and furniture, furnishings and equipment.
Though the total cost is now projected at $84.6 million, that number is likely to change by December as the design development phase is completed. The estimate includes a built-in escalation factor of approximately $10 million, accounting for increases in the costs of materials and labor through the mid-point of the project in 2029.
Other than replacing the seats in the school’s auditorium, Act 3 doesn’t include major changes to the auditorium or the Little Theater. But architects also gave estimates for major upgrades to those spaces, just to give the administration information about what those costs might look like in the future. The estimate for a new ceiling, house lighting, wall finishes and new stage in the auditorium was estimated to cost just over $8.6 million — which the administration is not looking to pursue in the immediate future.
Alternate plans to not demolish the current West Gym would save a little more than $7.7 million, but that idea was rejected because it would not allow for the performing arts spaces to be as large as desired.