Plans are in the works for a $40 million fieldhouse at Oak Lawn Community High School that will provide enough modernized space to house all of the school’s athletic, fitness and community programs in one centralized location at the south end of campus.
Construction is set to begin in the spring of 2025 and take about 18 months. Planning started several years ago and administrators, teachers, board members, students and the community all had input, School District officials said.
The new facility will have gymnasium facilities, a pool and locker rooms, four basketball courts and a 200 meter indoor track around the perimeter of the building. There will also be weight and wrestling rooms, as well as fitness space. Currently the district has two gyms at the north end of campus and two at the south. Having a gym in one location will mean students and staff won’t have to spend as much time going back and forth across campus, said Joseph McCurdy, assistant superintendent for Oak Lawn Community High School District 229.
The two gyms at the north end of campus will be “repurposed” for Career and Technology Education, he said, fulfilling another school need once the athletics activities are consolidated.
“There’s some benefits of having the fieldhouse on the south end of campus because that puts all the indoor athletic facilities in one area and it helps out academically with physical education classes all in one area,” McCurdy said.
The athletic director and physical education staff will have offices in the new space. And after school athletic programs, such as volleyball, basketball, badminton and track, will all have homes there, too.
There also will be enough space for community organizations, including the Oak Lawn Swim Association, Oak Lawn Outlaws Cheerleading and Football, Oak Lawn Baseball and Softball, and several other programs.
School administrators are excited about the new facility, calling it a “major milestone” in a news release announcing the project.
“Our new state-of-the-art fieldhouse will provide the resources for our athletes to flourish and offer all students a place to promote physical and mental health,” said Superintendent Shahe Bagdasarian. “Investing in this facility is investing in our students’ future success.”
Students are looking forward to it, too, according to OLCHS athletic director Jeremey Cryan.
“It’s an exciting time to be a Spartan,” Cryan said. “This facility is going to be a game changer for our athletic programs, student PE classes and community.”
Cryan said the new facility means more space to host practices, competitions, events and youth camps.
“Our athletes and programs work incredibly hard and are dedicated all year long,” he said.
Track and field athletes were probably the most excited because of the challenges of playing the indoor season without an indoor track, Cryan said.
“It’s exciting to be able to provide them a top-tier athletic space that will only help enhance their growth even more,” he said.
The district is paying for the facility with $21.5 million in working cash bonds, which it recently sold, along with funds reserved in anticipation of the project. DLA Architects of Itasca is designing the space.
The district has made other physical improvements in recent years, including a new parking lot at the north end of campus and an updated lot for students a few years ago.
The new fieldhouse offers “unparalleled opportunities,” the district said in the release.
“I like how it focuses on our physical education, that all of our physical education classes will be in one area,” said McCurdy. “And also just the functionality in that now we’re putting all evening events in one area, which gives us the ability to more easily lock down and secure the building.
“It gives us the ability to compete with our neighboring schools and the ability to provide the best facility and resources to our students and the community.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
