Bond Work & Sinking Fund Project Update: October 2023
With the passing of the August 2023 Bond (thank you, voters!), Berkley Schools teams are busy planning for upcoming construction projects. The Bond passage also allowed the District to dedicate Sinking Fund dollars to additional projects outside of the Bond scope to continue the work of updating facilities.
These monthly Bond & Sinking Fund updates will be maintained on the District’s website. See below for updates on Bond sales, maintenance building, design phases for Burton, Pattengill and BHS, furniture replacement, technology and Hurley Field.
Project Updates
Finance
The District’s independent financial team (PFM Financial Advisors, Thrun Law Firm, Stifel and Huntington Bank), along with the District's finance team, are ready to sell the Bonds on the market. The $88 million will be sold in two series - $10M in Fall 2023 and $78M in Spring/Early Summer 2024. View the District’s S&P rating that was completed before the Bonds could be prepared for sale. The $10M Bond is ready to price and sell and the financial advisors are closely watching the municipal bond Market to identify market conditions and select a Bond sale date that will achieve the best rates.
Design
Maintenance Building - Sinking Fund
The Berkley Schools Maintenance Department currently is housed in the annex building across from Berkley High School. This former elementary school building is on the site of the future District Catalpa Project (field house, fields, parking) and will be demolished in late 2024. The new Maintenance building will be located at the Administrative Offices site in Oak Park, at the end of the parking lot, just north of the Norup playground. The design team is reviewing design drawings of the new facility and the project cost estimates. Once the design drawings are approved, the next steps include preparing the request for proposal (RFP) documents for construction trades to bid on.
Baseball/Softball Fields - Sinking Fund
The District will be adding a new home varsity softball field on the Tyler Field, just north of Berkley Building Blocks. The design team, along with Foresite Design, will continue to work on design details and a construction timeline.
Planning and discussions are continuing for additional softball and baseball fields and upgrades.
District-wide Furniture - Bond
Design teams are meeting to plan for a District-wide furniture upgrade in Fall 2024. The District is working on securing a vendor who will inventory all District classroom and media center furniture prior to the big furniture swap in late Summer 2024.
Hurley Field Turf, Track, Lights & Parking - Bond & Sinking Fund
Phase 1 of the Hurley Field construction is part of a larger Bond and Sinking Fund project. It includes: turf, track, relocating discus and shot put, expanded parking and new lighting.
Hurley Project Timeline
Construction will begin on Hurley Field as early as the week of November 6, 2023, with the current turf being removed. In the Spring, once the ground thaws, the work will begin on replacing the turf. Once the evening temperatures are over 50 degrees at night, the track work will begin. The total timeline for the turf and track combined is 16 weeks - not including the winter months. The Anderson parking lot expansion and light installation will take place Spring-Summer 2024. The goal is to reopen Hurley Field in mid-late summer.
Spring Sports Season
A District team continues to reach out to local districts and municipalities to rent field time, to ensure the Spring season runs smoothly. Spring sport athletes and families will learn more details about where their competitions and practices will take place as the season approaches.
Phase 1 (Burton, Pattengill, BHS) - Bond
Design team meetings are being scheduled to plan and shape the Bond work for Burton and Pattengill (multi-purpose/cafeteria additions, gym updates, playground adjustments) as well as BHS (performing arts, field house, pool, science wing). Design teams will consist of building staff, District staff, architects and construction management team. These teams are led by Stantec, the District’s architects, and a core team of Berkley Schools Administrative staff.
Technology - Bond
The technology team is working with a vendor to inventory and get quotes for replacing classroom projectors, sound systems and clocks at Burton and Pattengill. Classroom projectors will be replaced with interactive flat panels that will be mounted to the wall. The classroom sound systems will be updated and the clocks inside classrooms and in hallways will likely be replaced as well. Once the quotes are finalized, the project will be brought to the Board of Education for approval. If approved, installation could begin in November and will be completed by a grade band at a time (TK-1, 2-3, 4-5).
Weekly Meetings
The District teams participate in weekly meetings with Stantec (architecture, engineering, design), McCarthy & Smith (construction management), and SES (engineering and mechanical systems) to plan timelines of construction, prepare bid documents, as well as pour over details of the scopes of work. Each project has a standard sequence of work: design phase, project cost estimating, bidding for contractors, awarding contracts, construction phase (demolition and building) and finally, project completion.
