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Finance & Facilities committee to recommend $80,000 facility assessment, feasibility work for Hinsdale Central heat plant and priority locker‑room repairs
Summary
The committee asked White to prepare an $80,000 fixed‑fee facility assessment and a feasibility authorization for a heat‑plant conversion at Hinsdale Central; members prioritized locker‑room repairs and asked White to model energy impacts, lighting paybacks and links to the district’s health‑life‑safety review.
The Finance & Facilities Committee of Hinsdale Township High School District 86 voted to advance a White‑led comprehensive facility assessment and feasibility work on key projects, recommending the items for full‑board consideration.
After a presentation from the White team, the committee heard that the proposed facility assessment — designed to run in tandem with the district’s health‑life‑safety study — will focus on engineering and architectural conditions (building envelope, mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems and site infrastructure) rather than movable furniture. The consultant described the study as primarily “nuts and bolts” engineering: “Facility assessment is…a broader but still nuts and bolts…heavily on the engineering and architectural conditions,” George said.
Staff said the firm will present a fixed‑fee feasibility proposal (the discussion referenced a fixed fee of $80,000) to develop high‑level observations, cost magnitudes and referrals for more detailed design. The committee directed staff to ask White to prepare a two‑step authorization: a limited, fixed‑fee feasibility/scope‑definition phase followed by a potential design authorization (with the feasibility fee credited toward later design work under the master agreement) so the board can refine costs before committing to multi‑year construction.
Why it matters: staff identified the Central boys’ locker rooms and related accessible restroom/ventilation work as the top condition‑priority, noting circulation and ADA access issues. Board members pressed whether parts of the work should be financed through health‑life‑safety bonds (which would require broader board and public process) versus operational funds; committee members also discussed air conditioning for gymnasiums, field and stadium lighting replacement (to replace rental lights and address safety incidents with temporary equipment) and potential solar/geothermal analyses as part of the broader facility review.
The committee paused the meeting to tour the locker rooms and returned to direct White to prepare project authorizations they could present to the board as early as the May meeting; staff also said a consolidated master facility plan wrapping the health‑life‑safety and facility assessment outputs could be ready late summer to early fall. No binding construction authorizations or bond approvals were taken at this meeting.
Next steps: White will prepare the feasibility/fixed‑fee proposal for committee and board review; staff will bring project authorizations to the board for consideration and will include modeling of gym AC energy use and lighting paybacks as requested by the committee.
