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Deerfield board reviews redesigned ReDefine 109 renderings after neighborhood meetings
Summary
District 109 officials presented revised ReDefine 109 site renderings and said architects had modified building massing, circulation and play-area siting after meetings with Walden and other neighbors; the board is planning further outreach and may decide in December whether to move forward.
Deerfield Public Schools officials on Oct. 16 showed a revised set of renderings for the ReDefine 109 master facility plan and described changes made after neighborhood feedback, including adjustments intended to reduce the appearance of a vehicular "ring road," move the building massing to lessen visual impact, and reconfigure play and parking areas.
Administration said architects met with Walden neighbors and incorporated specific requests: the design team stepped and shifted parts of the building to lower sightlines from nearby homes, modified the access surface so fire trucks can turn around without enabling daily through traffic, and adjusted the location and grading of green space so the Park District can count it as usable, flat, well‑drained turf. The district also reported exploring alternative "swing" sites and following up with local realtors who volunteered site leads.
Board members who attended recent public events said questions at Patty Turner and the Farmers Market focused on construction timelines, how students would be accommodated during multi‑year work, and why the district proposed new construction at some campuses rather than renovating all buildings. Administrators replied that detailed architectural and construction documents would follow community polling and that they plan to send updated mailers, post revised images online and hold additional in‑person and virtual information sessions in late October and November before any December decision.
The administration emphasized the project remains at the concept stage. "These are very early concepts of what these campuses would look like," an administrator said, adding that village planning reviews and a required 250‑foot neighbor notification would begin only if the board signals support to move forward.
Next steps include additional neighborhood meetings (including a Wilmot information session and a realtor lunch), a virtual session to be recorded for the website, and a planned polling process in mid‑November to inform a board decision in December.
