Maine South High School in Park Ridge updated with $85 million in renovations, new configurations

Ever since the fall semester began two months ago, Maine South High School students have been reaping the benefit of $82 to $85 million in recently-completed, taxpayer-funded renovations and improvements to the school. They include a new hallway designed to relieve crowding in a main corridor that was nearly gridlocked during passing periods, causing some students to be late to class.

Several key areas in the school, including the cafeteria, were relocated during the renovation. The cafeteria is now located on the site of the former outdoor courtyard, and a weight room, health classroom, wrestling room and dance room are located in the space the cafeteria formerly occupied.

“Specifically at [Maine] South, nearly every square inch of the building saw upgrades including lighting, flooring, ceilings, as well as replacement of HVAC, electrical and plumbing throughout the building,” said District 207 Spokesperson Brett Clark. The district spent $33.5 million on the building’s HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, he added.

Clark said before the remodel, large numbers of students tried to move, during passing periods, through a crowd in the bottlenecked main hallway on the west side of the building facing Dee Road. Many students over the years tried to escape the crowds by going outside, in all kinds of weather, and walking across the school’s courtyard to get into the A-wing.

After the renovation, an added hallway on the east side of the building facing homes on Broadway Avenue lets students get to and from the A-wing without having to step outside.

One of the more notable changes visible to both parents and students is that the remodel changed the layout of the building to create a hub area where offices that provide students academic and social/ emotional support, as well as a college advisor, are located, Clark said.

That space, called Center Court, is dominated by a huge, contemporary lighting fixture hanging over an open area featuring chairs and a television, and surrounded by offices offering various student services including the library, career and college center, student and family services, technology services, main office and attendance office.

Clark said having student services concentrated in the hub, near the entrance of the school, allows visitors and parents, who might be visiting a college counselor, for example, to get in and out of the building easily.

In the arts area, Maine South’s auditorium got new seats, ADA-accessible ramps, carpet and lighting. New lockers for band equipment were set up next to the theater, which has freed up class space for the band to practice. A new security vestibule is front and center at the entrance.

Clark said the school’s pool, built in 1964, was completely renovated to make it safer. Almost a decade ago, student athletes at Maine South complained about breathing issues they attributed to swimming in the pool, and an investigation bore that out. Clark said ground level ventilation was added a few years ago, and the renovation allowed the district to replace the pool’s HVAC unit.

The deepest part of the pool is now 12 feet, a portion of the pool deck has been replaced and the walls were painted, said Clark. The ceiling was also raised to meet state requirements for diving, even though Maine South’s old setup was still eligible for competition because it had been grandfathered in.

The heated pool also has new energy-efficient LED lights that Clark said will provide indirect lighting, which will prevent shadows from being cast across the pool.

Altogether, the cost of the pool was $597,900, according to the original contract value when the district started the project. Clark said pools at all three of the district’s schools were renovated.

The pool is used for Physical Education classes, and Maine South students also have access to it during summer camps. In the evening, a feeder program uses the pool. Maine South hosts anywhere between 20 to 30 competitions a year for the girls’ and boys’ swim teams and girls’ and boys’ water polo, according to Clark.

The district funded the renovations to Maine South, as well as Maine East High School in Park Ridge and Maine West High School in Des Plaines, by asking taxpayers in a 2019 referendum for $195 million. Taxpayers granted the request, and the district used $45.7 million from its reserves for the project, for a total of $240.7 million.

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New Career and Technical Education classrooms for woodworking, computer science, fashion, graphics, cybersecurity and culinary arts have also been added as part of the renovations. Students use computer labs, bandsaws, mannequins, 3D printers and kitchen equipment, respectively in the various subjects, to get hands-on experience in the material they are learning.

Students enrolled in Career and Technical Education classes are able to receive both high school and college credit for certain classes that are designated as dual enrollment classes. Unlike AP courses that require students to complete a national subject-level exam successfully, dual enrollment classes provide guaranteed college credit upon successful completion of the course. Maine South has partnerships with Oakton Community College, Harper College, and the Illinois Institute of Technology for students to obtain college credit.

At a similar tour at Maine East High School that featured that school’s renovations, District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace said he had been pushing for remodels since he started the job in 2009. Wallace has announced he will retire at the end of the school year.

“I think history will show that [board members] were good stewards in this project, and what’s really remarkable is that this project is going to carry this district decades into the future,” said Wallace.