Post by wvhsparent on Jun 27, 2006 8:34:30 GMT -6
Dist. 204 gets 3-D look at its third school
By Sara Hooker
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Cost estimates are on track for the Indian Prairie Unit District 204’s $124.7 million third high school, officials said Monday evening, as architects and construction managers tweak and finalize the floor plans.
DLR group architects walked board members through traffic patterns and rough 3-D visuals of the third high school, minus some key components such as exterior window placement and building materials.
The district unveiled floor and site plans for the facility at a meeting in April that showed a 452,000-square-foot structure sitting on the northern end of the Brach-Brodie property officials hope to acquire off Route 59 near 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora. It is expected to open in 2009.
“We’re starting to work from the inside out now,” said Dennis Bane with DLR Group architects.
Department chairs from both Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools signed off on the preliminary layout of the school, he said.
Designs call for a building shaped like a plus sign. The pool and gymnasium will sit on the south end of the building, while the entrance and auditorium will sit on the north side. From east to west, four academic wings intersect in the shape of an “X.”
Architects have tweaked stairwell locations to spread traffic out and avoid the traffic jams like those at Neuqua Valley in the area near main stairwells.
Board members said they’re happy with the parking lot design. It calls for student parking on the east side of the school, bus and parent drop-off on the west side of the school and four different drop-off circular drives, two on each side of the school.
On the south end, parking lots don’t separate the playing fields from the school.
“I really like that students are not having to cross parking lots to get to practice areas here,” board President Jeannette Clark said.
Designs factor in what daylight may look like in the school at any given time. Officials plan to maximize natural sunlight to benefit courses such as art that especially need and appreciate that light.
Existing plans show cost estimates coming in on budget for the project, officials said.
The architect and construction manager expect to update the board again in mid-September.
“I think that certainly is the next thing that they’re doing: putting some mock-ups of what the outside might look like,” Superintendent Howard Crouse said. “It’s largely brick and pre-form concrete and glass.”
The board recently approved the sale of $60.75 million in bonds to build the school.
The district received a lower interest rate, 4.55 percent, than the 5 percent it projected for the bonds, therefore saving money throughout the life of the loan, officials said.
Despite taking a large amount of debt with the approval of the funds for the high school, the district maintained its financial rating of a AA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s and an Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service.
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dailyherald.com
By Sara Hooker
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Cost estimates are on track for the Indian Prairie Unit District 204’s $124.7 million third high school, officials said Monday evening, as architects and construction managers tweak and finalize the floor plans.
DLR group architects walked board members through traffic patterns and rough 3-D visuals of the third high school, minus some key components such as exterior window placement and building materials.
The district unveiled floor and site plans for the facility at a meeting in April that showed a 452,000-square-foot structure sitting on the northern end of the Brach-Brodie property officials hope to acquire off Route 59 near 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora. It is expected to open in 2009.
“We’re starting to work from the inside out now,” said Dennis Bane with DLR Group architects.
Department chairs from both Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools signed off on the preliminary layout of the school, he said.
Designs call for a building shaped like a plus sign. The pool and gymnasium will sit on the south end of the building, while the entrance and auditorium will sit on the north side. From east to west, four academic wings intersect in the shape of an “X.”
Architects have tweaked stairwell locations to spread traffic out and avoid the traffic jams like those at Neuqua Valley in the area near main stairwells.
Board members said they’re happy with the parking lot design. It calls for student parking on the east side of the school, bus and parent drop-off on the west side of the school and four different drop-off circular drives, two on each side of the school.
On the south end, parking lots don’t separate the playing fields from the school.
“I really like that students are not having to cross parking lots to get to practice areas here,” board President Jeannette Clark said.
Designs factor in what daylight may look like in the school at any given time. Officials plan to maximize natural sunlight to benefit courses such as art that especially need and appreciate that light.
Existing plans show cost estimates coming in on budget for the project, officials said.
The architect and construction manager expect to update the board again in mid-September.
“I think that certainly is the next thing that they’re doing: putting some mock-ups of what the outside might look like,” Superintendent Howard Crouse said. “It’s largely brick and pre-form concrete and glass.”
The board recently approved the sale of $60.75 million in bonds to build the school.
The district received a lower interest rate, 4.55 percent, than the 5 percent it projected for the bonds, therefore saving money throughout the life of the loan, officials said.
Despite taking a large amount of debt with the approval of the funds for the high school, the district maintained its financial rating of a AA bond rating from Standard and Poor’s and an Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dailyherald.com