The new physical education wing in the southeast portion of Oak Park and River Forest High School will not be open when the new school year starts on Aug. 25, the school announced on July 27.
[D]ue to unavoidable circumstances — including weather delays and regional trade-labor shortages — completing the entire facility prior to the first day of school is no longer feasible,” Greg Johnson, OPRF superintendent, wrote in an email addressed to the OPRF community Monday. “While our construction firm has worked diligently to ramp up and resequence work, a phased opening has become necessary.”
Work began in the spring of 2025 on what is called Project 2. The project began with the demolition of the southeast corner of the school and then a new structure was built there, including a new swimming pool and third floor gym, at a cost of approximately $102 million.
The new structure had been expected to be completed this summer before the new school year begins although the schedule was always considered tight and challenging. Last winter Gilbane Construction’s Jeremy Roling, the project manager for Project 2, told the OPRF school board that despite a delay caused by some very cold winter weather he was aiming for “substantial completion” of Project 2 by July 31. Roling told the school board then that the new swimming pool should be completed by Aug. 6 and new third floor gym was expected to be completed by Aug. 12. That turned out to be overly optimistic.
Instead, the new pool and the new gym are now both projected to open on Oct. 1. According to Johnson’s email, what are described as “[m]ost Project 2 spaces including primary PE areas” are expected to open Sept. 1, just one week into the new school year.
Since the former west pool is being infilled the girls swimming team will have to practice at a nearby high school until October as OPRF will be without a pool until the new pool opens.
“We are finalizing arrangements for swim team practices to be held elsewhere in the interim,” Johnson wrote in the email.
Johnson said in the email that all PE classes, student programming and athletic activities will begin on schedule and continue uninterrupted despite the late opening of the new physical education wing.
The ribbon cutting for Project 2 has been postponed. It was originally scheduled for Aug. 22 but now has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3 at 10 a.m. The new facility will also be open for community tours on Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. until noon.
“We appreciate your patience and flexibility as we put the finishing touches on these transformative spaces for our students,” Johnson wrote in the email.
A spokeswoman for OPRF said that more details on the delay will be made public when Gilbane presents a report to the school board at its Aug. 6 meeting.