With just over 28 months left before Evanston/Skokie School District 65’s new school is scheduled to open, Evanston Now asked district officials for their timeline for the project.
The 5th Ward school approved by the school board last week is proposed to be built on district-owned land at Ashland Avenue and Simpson Street that now is operated by the City of Evanston as a park named Foster Field.
The district’s chief financial officer, Raphael Obafemi, says the schedule for the project looks like this:
- The district’s architectural firm, Cordogan Clark, develops the design for the $40 million school by October 2022.
- The design is reviewed by the City of Evanston for zoning compliance in October and November 2022.
- The school district seeks bids for a general contractor in November 2022.
- The district awards the construction contract in December 2022.
- Detailed building plans are approved by the Regional Office of Education by February 2023.
- Construction starts in May 2023.
- Construction completed and school opens in August 2024.
Obafemi says a timeline for developing a program to address more than $188 million in deficiencies in the district’s existing school buildings is still being developed.
Maybe a timeline should be developed to address the $180 million in updates needed to address current schools before focusing on the flashy new school. Less fun for sure, but more important for more kids.