School on track for winter work

Construction crews working on the new Lincoln-Way West High School building at Gougar Road and Illinois Highway in New Lenox Township have completed masonry work on the fine arts wing and are moving on to interior priming in the auditorium, said project superintendent Al Steffeter, of Henry Bros. Construction Co.

"Substantial progress is being made with more than 250 tradesmen and women on site daily," he said.

Steffeter also said crews are in the process of installing mechanical systems in the library area of the school's academic wing. Installation and exterior brick work is about 90 percent complete in the physical education wing, he said.

Stacy Holland, director of community relations for District 210, said the crews also are working hard to get the permanent roofs completed.

"They want to be totally under-roof by Oct. 1, but they really need to be under by Nov. 1," she said. "There's a big push on competing all the roof work before the inclement weather prevails, so that's a goal for them right now."

"Once they get it roofed, they can continue working (on the interior) throughout the winter," she added.

Steffeter said crews also are working on traffic signals and widening Gougar Road to allow for school traffic. They're seeding the baseball fields so that the grass has a chance to grow by the end of October.

"It's all moving along very well," Holland said. "We're very impressed with the workmanship . . . and (the construction crew) is moving along ahead of schedule and they're keeping to budget, which is very, very important. They're doing a great job."

Holland said the $88 million, 414,000-square-foot facility is on schedule to be completed by June 1 of next year. This is the fourth high school in the rapidly growing Lincoln-Way district. The third school, Frankfort's Lincoln-Way North opened this fall.

A dedication ceremony for West is planned for Aug. 2, 2009.