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Libertyville High cafeteria delayed; board approves $150,003.98 change order for extended project work
Summary
District leaders told the Board of Education the LHS kitchen is usable but the servery and courtyard will not reach substantial completion before school starts; the board approved a $150,003.98 change order to extend contractor time.
The board was told July 28 that Libertyville High School’s new kitchen is finished and “fully functional,” but contractors will not complete the servery and courtyard before classes begin, and the board approved a $150,003.98 change order to extend project time. Ray Albin, the school official who presented the construction update, said the district will use temporary serving lines and a retained temporary dining layout that worked in the spring so students can be fed starting Aug. 11.
Why it matters: The cafeteria work affects how thousands of students will be served at the start of the school year and requires the district to run temporary food service while contractors finish key elements behind temporary walls.
District staff said the kitchen itself has been finished and will be cleaned for use; the servery — the area where students pick up food — and a courtyard that doubles as faculty dining and extra student seating are the elements still under construction. Albin said seating areas and finishes are being installed and that the district expects the main seating area to be usable on Aug. 11. "The kitchen was completed the '25. It's fully functional," he said.
Mark Coopman, the district’s facilities representative, told the board crews encountered “hidden conditions” including asbestos and structural variances once walls were opened, and that several statutory abatement notifications required work stoppages. "We found hidden conditions. We came across asbestos in several areas," Coopman said; Dan Stanley, who coordinated the update for the facilities committee, added that discovery of asbestos typically triggers a state notification process that can halt work for about two weeks while abatement is scheduled.
Because the courtyard soils were also unsuitable, contractors needed additional foundation and structural work. District staff estimated the servery could reach substantial completion by Oct. 1 and the courtyard area by early November, though they said timeline estimates could change as work proceeds.
Board action: The board approved a change order labeled ATP-0004 with Gilbane for $150,003.98 to cover the contractor’s extended time on the project. District staff told the board that, after the change order, about $200,000 still remained in contingency funds tied to the LHS project.
Discussion and next steps: Staff said the district will erect temporary walls to allow work to continue behind finished seating areas, re-deploy the temporary serving configuration used in spring, keep Room 136 as temporary faculty dining until the courtyard is ready and communicate updated timelines to families before Aug. 11. Board members asked for continued updates and thanked school and facilities leaders for hands-on coordination.
The change order was brought to the board at the request of district staff after committee discussion and passed during the July 28 regular meeting.
