West Aurora School District board members recently approved a nearly $850,000 contract for the interior demolition and renovation of a former muffler shop that now serves as the district’s Automotive and Technical Center in North Aurora.
The school board in June 2023 voted 6-0 to purchase the building at 202-208 Genesis Drive in North Aurora for $1.7 million.
The district had offered its automotive vocational program at Mooseheart Child City and School in North Aurora as part of a partnership it had.
The Genesis Drive facility is at Orchard Gateway Boulevard and Genesis Drive just west of the auto mall on the village’s southwest side. The building previously housed a Merlin Complete Auto Care and also includes three separate office spaces.
“We have been running the West Aurora Automotive and Technical Center at this location since the start of the 2023-24 school year,” West Aurora School District 129 Director of Community Affairs Anna Gonzales said in a response to questions from The Beacon-News.
“We had a demand that exceeded the space at Mooseheart. We serve both West Aurora students and Mooseheart students at this location. The new location provides an opportunity for us to expand our offerings,” Gonzales said.
Board members May 6 unanimously approved a recommendation from the district’s architect Studio GC of Chicago that the contract for the interior demolition and renovation work be awarded to the low bidder Lite Construction in the amount of $849,700.
An original low bidder presented at the April 15 board meeting, Bee Liner Lean Services, but has withdrawn its bid, Gonzales said.
“As has happened a few times in the past, the low bidder asked to withdraw their bid. As is our practice, especially when there is a significant difference between the low bid and other bidders, our capital projects team met with the low bidder to ensure they understood the project, and the timelines and to address any questions,” Gonzales said. “As part of that review, Bee Liner indicated that a subcontractor they were utilizing could not meet the timelines and they asked to withdraw. We agreed and recommended Lite Construction as they became the lowest responsive, responsible bidder after the withdrawal.”
Public comments at the April 15 board meeting said the Bee Liner bid was “significantly” lower than the other eight bidders.
The public comments were not the prompt for “further investigation or decision-making” about the bid, Gonzales said.
“We had already begun our due diligence process before that meeting,” she said.
The district this school year began offering two courses at the facility in North Aurora. Automotive Technology I is an introductory course covering the main areas of study from brakes to computer control. Students receive classroom instruction and lab time for hands-on repairs to vehicle. Automotive Technology II is a project-based course with expanded lab time that encourages student input on areas of study and further allows students to bring in their projects, Gonzales said.
Other programming will be developed, she said.
“We have not landed on what final class offerings will be provided. The demolition will take place this summer/early fall. Once our Teaching and Learning Department has landed on specifics for new programming, we would have another round of projects for the build-out. That would likely be spring/summer of 2025 at the earliest,” she said.
“We know that our students have benefited from our offerings at the Weisner Family Center for Career Development as well as the Automotive and Technical Center. We continue to balance our offerings to meet the needs of our students. We want to make sure our students have options that set them up for whatever path they want to pursue post-graduation. This is just another piece of that plan,” Gonzales said.
“There are approximately nine auto dealerships less than four blocks away from our auto center,” she said. “There is a tremendous need for technicians, and we are providing the foundation for those opportunities.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
