Architects from White and Company, working with Gilbane, presented an update on the Joliet Central master facilities plan and a Phase 2B proposal to the Joliet Township High School District 204 board.

Mideeshia of White and Company summarized the package as an update to the previously adopted master plan and said the work follows earlier campus projects including recent culinary arts and athletic-field renovations. The Phase 2B scope includes a two-story link between the main building and the T&I (technical and industrial) building, a new first-floor hallway inside T&I, first-floor renovations in the Smith and T&I buildings, and smaller program spaces such as small-group rooms and faculty resource rooms.

Steve Shearer (White and Company) said the project aims to "consolidate CT and visual arts into the T And I Building" and to "create an improved hallway on the First Floor of T And I," allowing students to move between studios without walking through active lab spaces. The design includes four small classrooms or resource rooms within the new link and plans for overhead garage doors in several lab spaces to move large projects in and out.

Design and budget details presented include separate construction-cost buckets for the Smith first-floor renovation, the T&I link addition, and the T&I first-floor renovation; the architects said their cost estimates carry design and construction contingencies and an escalation allowance to account for tariffs and market volatility. The team said schematic design is underway, with design-development work to follow and a target for early fall bidding. Construction work would begin in summer 2026 with phased turnover, the presenters said.

Board members asked about subsurface conditions in downtown Joliet and the project team replied they routinely plan for unforeseen conditions and will scan slabs and evaluate electrical and plumbing locations before heavy work begins. A board member praised the accessibility improvements the project would bring to students with mobility needs, calling the links and corridor work an "equitable" improvement.

No formal vote was taken on the presentation. Administrators said the district will return with design-development budgets and updated schedules and will present West Campus work in a future meeting.