Building the new Aylesworth Middle School will cost far less than original estimates, the Portage Township School Board was told Monday.

Bids awarded Monday brought the total construction cost to $57.4 million. In August 2024, the school’s estimated cost was $86 million.

“We got really favorable bids and great results for you tonight,” Fanning Howey Principal and Project Manager Michael Schipp said.

Bids were opened Dec. 3 in the district’s board room.

“This room on Dec. 3 was packed. It was standing room only. You had absolutely incredible participation,” Skillman Construction Vice President Dion Katsouros said.

Across 15 categories, there was an average of four bids per category, for a total of 62 bids.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were procurement issues.

“Now, you’re fortunate enough to secure materials” with long lead times so materials are ready when needed, Katsouros said.

Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said after the meeting that with the bids so low, the district might be able use some of the extra bond money to redo HVAC systems in some of the elementary schools.

Schipp walked the board through a presentation on the new school, which will replace Willowcreek Middle School.

“We’re all about ‘education anywhere’ learning opportunities,” he said. “We were challenged by Dr. Alaniz and her leadership team.”

That includes a commons area where students can work in teams or individually on projects. “We have exterior learning areas as well,” he said, including two secured courtyards.

“We have some unique opportunities with concessions and the student store,” Schipp said, with access to the outdoors from the cafeteria.

“We set up the palette. It’s up to the great teachers you have to take advantage of that,” he said. “Everything’s been well designed with regard to your leadership input.”

That meant Schipp pushed his engineers to condense the space for mechanical equipment to provide more teaching spaces. “Dr. Alaniz kept telling us more teaching spaces,” Schipp said.

Two full-sized basketball courts in the gym can be divided by a net between them. The gym will be able to seat about 1,000 people.

Four locker rooms will be north of the gym.

The eighth grade wing will have access to an outside patio.

The music area will have risers built in. “I envision walking through this building on our dedication and your fantastic choir that you heard tonight are standing right there on those risers singing,” Schipp said.

The Portage High School Choraliers performed a few holiday songs as well as “Happy Birthday” to Alaniz at Monday’s meeting.

School Board President Andy Maletta asked if the school would include an homage to the “jungle hall” at Willowcreek. “It is something that people are talking about. I know we’re not building another jungle hall,” he said.

The “jungle hall,” as former students dubbed it, featured plants in a very humid setting inside Willowcreek.

At the new middle school, the courtyards will serve that purpose, allowing students to see native plants, Alaniz said. The courtyards will allow teachers to give students some time outdoors, the same as elementary students and at what will become Fegely Intermediate School, she said.

“It’s going to be a unique spin on it, the 21st century version of jungle hall,” Alaniz said.

The courtyards will have an ornamental fence and a locking gate, Schipp said. The courtyard needs an exit for safety reasons. “We know there’s not going to be a fire in a courtyard,” he said, but other emergencies might require a quick retreat.

Security is an important consideration throughout the campus.

“We’ve actually zoned the buildings,” Schipp said, so units can be locked down. The building is designed so the seventh and eighth graders will have separate pods, though they will share common areas like the music room.

There will be no keys for the staff. All the doors will have access controls. “The doors are essentially locked all the time,” Schipp said. “Any space that the teachers have access to will have those control points.”

Visitors will walk into a vestibule and get buzzed into the reception area in the administrative offices, then will have to be buzzed in to access the rest of the building. Creating multiple levels and layers of security is vital, Schipp said. His team has met with state police to discuss what’s best for that type of security.

“The idea is you create barriers along the way,” he said. “It’s all about preventing them from getting through that door in 60 seconds.”

An office off the main hall in the center of the building is planned for school resource officers to improve their accessibility.

Cameras will be placed throughout the building and in the courtyards.

“We took a great deal of time to talk about lines of sight,” Associate Superintendent Michael Stephens said. That’s important for security as well as supervision.

Parking areas will be brightly lit, so there won’t be a place to hide in shadows, he said.

Schipp got permission from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance from city codes to allow the school to not have any islands with plantings in the parking lot, which makes it easier for visibility as well as plowing the lot.

“Arborvitae doesn’t necessarily provide a safe environment,” Katsouros said, so municipalities are more understanding now.

“We ended up with nine variances, and they all were approved,” Schipp said. The city’s requirements were more intended for businesses than schools, he said.

Aylesworth Middle School will be the district’s first new school since Portage High School was built in 1979.

“There’s been a significant amount of opportunity to enhance the variance learning experiences for students without jeopardizing safety and security,” Alaniz said.

The new middle school will slightly overlap Aylesworth Elementary School, just west of Willowcreek Middle School. The elementary school will be razed at the end of the school year to clear the way for the new school to be built. Classes will continue to be held at Willowcreek while its replacement is under construction.

“We’ve got to provide as little disruption as possible,” Katsouros said, considering classes will be held in a building just 30 feet away.

The new football stadium will overlap the existing middle school’s footprint, so the arena can’t be constructed until students are shifted to the new school so the old school can be razed.

Plans call for the new school to be ready for use during the 2028-29 school year with the rest of the project completed by May 2029, Katsouros said.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/bids-for-new-portage-middle-school-well-under-budget/