Facilities Master Plan Project 1

Rendering of new South Cafeteria and two-story Student Resource Center above it, looking south from the Mall.

With ground-breaking slated for June 2020, Oak Park and River Forest High School soon will begin the most significant renovations to its campus in 50 years. The district is working with FGM Architects to design Facilities Master Plan Project 1, which will include construction/renovation of the following:

  • General education classrooms
  • Classrooms, kitchen, laundry area, sensory room, and ADA-compliant restroom for the Special Education TEAM (Transitional Education with Access to the Mainstream) program
  • First phase of student commons (east first, second, and third floors)
  • Student resource center (library and tutoring center)
  • South Cafeteria
  • Main entrance
  • All-gender restrooms
  • Three science labs
  • Daycare facilities (infant room)
  • ADA-compliant elevator in the north end of the building

This portion of the project has a cost of $32,631,500. Funding will come from existing cash reserves, thereby avoiding a tax increase to property owners and preserving the district’s debt-free status.

Project 1 also includes $16 million in capital improvements and $5.1 million in Health/Life Safety work.

For more information, see the links to the right.

Additional Information

The Facilities Master Plan is a long-term, comprehensive, multi-project plan for facilities work that comprises three parts:

  1. Imagine OPRF: Formed in spring 2017, the Imagine OPRF Work Group was charged with making recommendations to the Board of Education for a fiscally responsible facilities master plan that supports equity and current and future academic programming needs. The community-based, 40-member committee spent approximately 15 months conducting intensive research and gathering stakeholder input to identify facility needs.
  2. Capital improvements: With various sections of the high school constructed anywhere from 50 to 110 years ago, the district does significant upkeep work each summer, such as installing new roofing, replacing outdated mechanicals, and tuckpointing.
  3. Health/Life Safety work: Illinois School Code requires that every public school building undergo a comprehensive inspection every 10 years, then remedy any identified issues. Current Health/Life Safety work at OPRF includes installing a new fire alarm system with a mass notification system.