Perkins+Will presents $4.217 million estimate for Proviso East Field House upgrades including bleacher, AV and weight-room work

Perkins+Will presented a proposed package of renovations for the Proviso East Field House at a March 2025 facilities meeting, estimating total costs of $4,217,000 for the projects the firm was asked to evaluate. The presentation grouped several work items — bleacher replacement, audiovisual and acoustical upgrades, a weight-room renovation, window replacement plus radiant heat, and a branded entry/ticketing area — and noted an accessible chair lift remains under study.

Carl Chimini, senior project architect with Perkins+Will, told district staff the presentation was “focused around a series of potential projects” at the Field House and that the projects would likely be pursued as summer 2026 work rather than completed this coming summer. Chimini said the package “represents a variety of finish and functional improvements, as well as just, replacing, some aging infrastructure.”

The largest single work item described was replacement of the gym’s retractable bleachers. Chimini said the intent is to replace roughly seven to eight rows of retractable seating spanning about 70 linear feet on both sides of the main competition floor; options include motorized or manual systems and configurations to add guardrails and designated wheelchair spaces. Chimini said the district would likely lose “a few” seats because accessibility code requires more space for wheelchair locations but that the district could possibly extend the runs a foot or two to retain capacity. He described the existing stands as showing their age.

Perkins+Will estimated an audiovisual and acoustical package at about $420,000. Chimini said the scope would replace the public-address system entirely — microphones, loudspeakers and audio processing — and add acoustical treatments identified by an acoustical consultant (wall-mounted and ceiling-hung treatments were cited) to reduce reverberation so spoken announcements are intelligible across the court.

The team proposed a full update to the weight room and adjacent drill/track area, with a budget cited in the presentation as $985,000. The transcript lists a preliminary cost breakdown the presenters provided to the district: demolition, about $50,000; interior finishes, $225,000; specialty equipment, $37,050; electrical/lighting, and audiovisual items listed in the slide notes as $2.25 and $2.38 respectively (these were presented as shorthand figures to be refined). Perkins+Will and the district noted the equipment line will need refinement through further discussions with athletic staff.

Chimini also described window replacement and targeted heating in an unconditioned circulation area (the presentation said insulated glazing units and ceiling-mounted radiant panels were being priced). He said the goal would not be to create a classroom-temperature space but to raise transient circulation areas from extreme cold to more comfortable temperatures (the firm cited a target in the fifties to sixties Fahrenheit on very cold days).

A separate item would reconfigure and finish underused front-of-house spaces into a branded entry and ticketing area with custom millwork, display cases, decorative lighting and integrated media to showcase athletics history and announce upcoming events. Chimini described this as a placemaking move that “helps reinforce the identity” of Proviso East athletics and said the next step would be development of more specific plans and square-footage calculations for pricing.

Chimini said an accessible chair lift (identified as a northwest stair lift at the Field House) remains in the study phase; Perkins+Will said it would establish a design narrative and provide a cost estimate in a future step.

District staff and presenters emphasized these are order-of-magnitude estimates. Chimini said the projects presented are currently scoped for summer 2026 construction; the team warned that, because the meeting occurred in March 2025, there was insufficient time to fully design, bid and construct the work for summer 2025. District leadership said they need to prioritize these items within the district’s larger capital plan before authorizing design or bids.

Next steps noted in the meeting: Perkins+Will and the construction manager will refine equipment lists and pricing, coordinate with Gilbane on estimates already included in the presentation materials, and provide more detailed design and budget documents for district prioritization and possible inclusion in the capital schedule.