New Spaces Just take Form At Maine East & Maine South

Pepper Design crew members join a tour via the underneath-design exercise middle at Maine East Significant University.

A new exercise centre at Maine East Superior School and a new indoor hallway at Maine South Higher School are just some of the new characteristics at the two Park Ridge educational institutions this 12 months.

Both are component of significant-scale renovation jobs transpiring all through Maine Township Superior School Dist. 207. Voters approved a referendum for the district to issue $195 million in bonds just around two decades in the past for the initiatives.

Plans incorporate modernization perform at all 3 schools in the district, such as Maine West Superior College in Des Plaines in addition to Maine East and Maine South. Wight & Business Architects and Pepper Development were being employed to operate on the challenge.

Dist. 207 Asst. Supt Mary Kalou led a tour by the buildings Wednesday (Jan. 20), highlighting some of the completed jobs and some that are continue to underway.

At Maine East High University, 2601 Dempster St., she showed members the below-development cardio and health heart on the 2nd tale of an addition to the school’s fieldhouse. When total, the fitness middle, which options windows overlooking the university grounds, will be property to cardio and excess weight lifting equipment that are at present kept in a classroom and hallway of the faculty, Kalou mentioned.

On the exact floor as the conditioning heart, a dance and yoga place is also underneath building.

“We required to honor the historic mother nature of the making,” reported Kalou of other renovations all over the 90-yr-previous school.

Dist. 207 Supt. Ken Wallace explained the initial doorway handles at the school’s entrance entrance had been preserved.

Aside from the new bodily schooling regions, new spots at Maine East involve two new art rooms, pottery machines, a new images classroom and a new darkroom situated on the 3rd ground wherever the library employed to be. Prior to staying transformed into the library, the creating served as a three-tale gym by means of the 1950s, explained Dist. 207 team.

In renovating the space, Wight & Firm opened up attic house to offer larger ceilings, according to architect Wendy Watts.

Kalou mentioned the library will be moved to a a lot more central area on the second floor of the creating.

On the first flooring of the developing, a everyday living capabilities place for unique demands pupils now characteristics kitchen locations, washing equipment, nooks for one-on-one particular instruction and house for bodily treatment.

At the two Maine East and Maine South, new staff areas were being created to present every single office with place for desks in “neighborhoods” and to make it possible for for collaboration within departments.

Wight & Business architects Craig Siepka and Wendy Watts examine the new personnel space at Maine East Higher School in Park Ridge.

Maine East’s new staff members region includes a “sunken living room” lounge location in addition to kitchenettes, office gear regions and personal rooms for cellphone calls.

Maine South workers beforehand had workplace places distribute through the school, often in unused classrooms.

As of Wednesday, do the job on a new foodstuff lab at Maine South Superior College, 1111 S. Dee Rd., in the school’s previous pictures area, had just wrapped up. Ovens, sinks and screens for displaying recipes are all set for learners to begin taking part in culinary lessons.

Close by in an space that was formerly an out of doors courtyard, work is steadily going ahead on the new Maine South cafeteria, which Kalou explained will be related with student providers these kinds of as counselors, social personnel and psychologists.

A new cafeteria at Maine South Significant College, found in which an outside courtyard previously stood, is predicted to be complete by March.

This design was “inspired by university student unions,” mentioned architect Craig Siepka of Wight & Firm.

Kalou said the cafeteria ought to be done by March.

Maine South arts lecture rooms ended up moved closer to the school’s 3-story A-Wing creating. They are now laid out with a relatively open up flooring prepare that contains area for electronic arts, photography and other fine arts as effectively an location that can be used as a gallery.

From this new artwork office, learners no longer have to walk outside the house to access the east facet of the A-Wing creating, as a new included hallway has been built.

Maine Township Significant University Dist. 207 Supt. Ken Wallace walks by way of the freshly built hyperlink among Maine South Higher School’s 1 and 3-story buildings.

This February, a bid package deal for the upcoming phase of get the job done is predicted to occur ahead of the Dist. 207 Developing & Grounds Committee.

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