During their Aug. 16 meeting, members of the Leyden High School District 212 school board were able to walk the newly renovated halls of West Leyden to take in the culmination of the major construction projects on the campus.
While students were able to enjoy a majority of the new spaces when they went back to school on Aug. 15, Superintendent Nick Polyak said all of the construction will officially be completed at the facility and crews will be completely out some time at the end of October.
The board’s first tour stop was West Leyden’s renovated courtyard space.
“It was redesigned to be more functional,” said Polyak.
Polyak noted the original courtyard was basically a concrete circle and not as conducive to outdoor learning or even use during students’ lunch periods as the new space. More suitable seating has been added to the area, he said. The courtyard can also function as an outdoor hallway during appropriate weather.
“The students really enjoy it,” Polyak said of the outdoor space. “They were out there day one. As long as the weather is even remotely allowable to be outside, the kids will be out there using that space.”
The next stop on the board’s tour was the renovated cafeteria and the newly added “commons,” which include media and meeting centers and offices. According to Polyak, the construction added about 26,000 square feet, with a lunchroom underneath a wing that now houses the library, dean’s offices and counselor’s office.
Polyak said the idea behind the design was really for students to be able to appropriately optimize their lunch periods to suit their individual needs.
“What’s significant about this is, for the students during lunch hour, there’s a stairway that brings them right up to the library, deans, and counselor,” said Polyak.
The final cost projection for the construction projects at West Leyden is $26 million. But the work on District 212 facilities isn’t nearly complete. The bulk of the construction projects at East Leyden will be happening between now and the beginning of August 2019. This construction and renovation will include a new aquatic center, cafeteria and commons, a new girls locker room, new preschool facilities, new band and choir classrooms and the creation of a new courtyard.
What has already been completed at East Leyden is the foundation for some of the new additions. He said some of the steel beams are now in place and the old girls locker rooms have been converted to three science classrooms.
Terry Fielden, director of K-12 education at International Contractors Inc., was also at the board meeting to give updates. He plans on attending more board meetings to present the status of the East Leyden renovations to the board as well as the community.
Board President Greg Ignoffo praised the completed work done on West Leyden facilities.
“West was a big puzzle,” Ignoffo said of developing the plans for the renovations.
