The Lockport High School District 205 referendum was too close to call Tuesday night.
District voters were asked Tuesday to fund $85 million in renovations to its historic Central Campus, where the district’s freshmen attend.
The referendum received 4,873 votes against the measure and 4,463 votes in favor, according to unofficial results from the Will County clerk’s office with 275 out of 310 precincts reporting.
Superintendent Robert McBride said district officials have worked hard to accomplish the renovation proposed to the community. The referendum results will be useful in decision making, he said.
“I’m just really pleased that our board of education took the approach that it’s for the voters to decide,” McBride said.
Central Campus, which was built in 1909, has been closed to students and staff since a November classroom ceiling collapse. The district board has been moving forward with ceiling improvements, and the district’s 900 freshmen have attended classes at the former Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort.
Voters rejected six requests from 2006 to 2011 to build a high school in Homer Glen. McBride said DLA Architects found building a new freshmen center would cost $145 million.
If approved, the $85 million referendum could cost a resident with a home valued at about $267,700 an estimated increase of $169 and $187 per year depending on the length of the bond, according to district documents.
The referendum money would be used for facility upgrades, life safety work, renovating the auditorium and general interior remodeling, according to a financial sheet from DLA Architects, the district’s architectural firm.
About $31 million would go toward the upgrades and life safety work, including installing a second elevator, McBride said. Renovation of the auditorium, the largest unused space, is projected to cost $7.2 million and the general interior remodeling is estimated at $24.8 million, according to the financial sheet.
The remaining costs are for contingencies, including possibly using $8 million to cover the courtyard to use the space year-round, according to the financial sheet.
John Podgorny, who voted Tuesday at the Lockport Police Department polling location, said he voted against the referendum because of the cost.
“The numbers they’re putting out is just too much,” he said.
Joy Brown said outside the Homer Township Public Library polling location Tuesday that while she’s a former educator and believes students should have modern facilities, she voted against the referendum because of the cost.
“They need to figure out how to do it for less,” Brown said.
Audrey Manly said she was a member of the committee the district formed in 2022 to consider Central Campus’ future. The committee decided it should remain a freshmen center and be renovated, McBride said.
Manly, who voted Tuesday at the Lockport Police Department, said even if she wasn’t on the committee she would’ve voted in favor of the referendum because a more modern building would benefit the students.
“The central school is in desperate need of an update,” Manly said.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
