View Video of Proposed Middle School Site

The Board of Education is currently negotiating for the purchase of an 18-acre site on which to build a new middle school. Some members of the pubic have questioned the appropriateness of the site due to its proximity to the BP Naperville Campus. The site is actually .27 of a mile from the campus and more than .53 of a mile from Building 500. A visual of the site might help put its location in perspective for those who may not be familiar with it. The site is in Warrenville and is located north of Warrenville Road, east of West Street, south of Galusha Road and west of Herrick Road. By clicking here you will see a map of the area and the location of the proposed site. By clicking here you will see a 360 degree video of the property.

Please read the highlights of the June 14 Board of Education meeting which include information about the safety of the school site. 

Several other issues have been raised that deserve a response.

1. The District is negotiating with James McNaughton Builders for the 18-acre site west of Herrick Road.  No formal offers have been made at this writing.  Should agreement be reached on the price, contingencies would be written into the contract based on the outcome of the various environmental tests that are being conducted.
2. The Board of Education would NEVER take any action that might potentially jeopardize the health or safety of students and staff.  That is why a thorough analysis of the site is being conducted by the current owner and a second independent study by the school district.  All questions related to the appropriateness of the site will be researched and answered.
3. The District 200 tax rate is the same for all property owners in the district.  Regardless of the address or size of the property, each taxpayer pays at the same rate based on the equalized assessed valuation of the property as determined by the township assessor.
4. Legat Architects has been the District’s architect of record for more than 10 years.  During that time the firm has designed the renovations and additions to many of our elementary, middle, and high schools.  The estimates for all of these projects, developed jointly by Legat and construction managers Bovis LendLease, have been right on target.
5. Legat Architects has been in business for 41 years and is experienced in restoring historical structures and creating new construction that is aesthetically historical and modern in function.
6. The estimates for building a new middle school and renewing the existing building are based on a bid date of March 2007.  They include inflation costs to that point and throughout the multi-year project.  The actual cost of doing either project would, of course, be based on actual bids and not estimates.