Early work is set to start soon on two of the biggest projects promised by Indian Prairie School District 204 in its $420 million bond proposal approved by voters last month.
The Indian Prairie Board of Education approved at its meeting on Monday a contract with the district’s architect, Wight and Company, to begin pre-designing comprehensive improvements to both Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools, along with Neuqua’s Birkett Freshman Center.
“There’s significant planning and design work needed prior to the start of construction work at these facilities. This is due to the large size of these campuses, the age of the facilities, the work envisioned and the need to do much of the work while the facilities are still operational,” District 204 Chief School Business Official Matt Shipley said at the meeting.
Construction on the planned improvements could begin as early as spring 2026, according to Shipley.
When originally planned in the district’s 2023 Facility Assessment and Master Plan, the two projects had a total cost of $258 million, according to a letter from Wight and Company that was included with the meeting’s agenda. However, the district is looking for ways to reduce that total cost, specifically the cost to improvements at Waubonsie, the letter said.
Basic design services like schematic design, development, construction documents and construction administration are not included in this contract, the letter said. Instead, these will come later after the project’s scope, budget and phases are further developed, it said.
The letter details four tasks that are expected to be completed under the contract.
The first task will be to hold a “project kick-off” meeting with the district, where budget and priorities will be reviewed, building standards will be determined, an overall project schedule is established and more. During this task, Wight and Company will also connect relevant data, such as local ordinances and surveys.
The second task is the programming and conceptual design phase, during which Wight and Company will “establish the fundamental ideas and vision for a project using the previously developed master plan document as a baseline,” the letter said.
This will involve studying the site, figuring out space requirements and mapping out how different programs within the schools relate to each other both spatially and operationally, according to the letter.
At the end of this task, Wight and Company is expected to present a number of documents, including preliminary site analysis, concept sketches, site and floor plans and basic 3D models or perspective renderings.
Task three is the pre-construction services, which will include budgeting and scheduling of construction, among other things.
The final task to be completed under the contract is to scan existing facilities using lasers to create 3D models for use in design and bidding documents.
Work is set to start within two weeks and is expected to be completed within six months, according to the letter.
Tasks one through three will cost the district a fixed fee of $650,000, and task four will cost the district a fixed fee of $360,000, in addition to reimbursable expenses for direct costs like outside printing services and travel expenses, the letter said.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education approved the issue of the first round of bonds, which will total $15 million. Shipley said the board could now approve the issue of those bonds since the election results have now been certified.
The funds will be used for “some of the highest priority projects outlined during the referendum’s informational campaign,” which include security upgrades and the planning of Waubonsie and Neuqua’s comprehensive improvements, according to Shipley.
He said the bond repayments will be structured to replace the repayment of other bonds that are set to be paid off so that they can be repaid without a tax increase, one of the district’s promises when it proposed the bond issue to voters.
“We are confident that the structure and timing of the bond maximizes the impact of these funds,” Shipley said.
Although voters approved the issue of $420 million in bonds, the district is planning to issue bonds in phases.
The next round of bond sales would likely be for $156.5 million and take place in July 2025, according to past reporting. Another sale is planned for July 2027 at an amount of $169 million, and the last sale is planned for October 2029 at $80 million.
Even after bonds are issued, projects using bond funds still need to come before the board for approval to use those funds, district officials have previously said.
