The former Portage Township Schools Administration building will be the first to be demolished this spring when workers begin preparing to build the new Aylesworth Middle School.

The building, which most recently housed the information technology team, is scheduled to be razed in April, Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said.

The construction site includes two existing schools as well, Aylesworth Elementary School and Willowcreek Middle School.

This is the last school year for the elementary school, which will be demolished when it’s emptied out. Willowcreek Middle School will remain until its replacement is ready for use, then demolished to make way for the rest of the project.

All told, the district is planning a $99.85 million construction project, not all of which is at that site, at the corner of Willowcreek Road and Central Avenue, Alaniz said. Construction bids came in low enough that other projects on the district’s to-do list are being accelerated, including HVAC work at other schools and moving a career and technical education program from Willowcreek to Portage High School.

Alaniz is meeting with architects Fanning Howey to get a list of projects ready for the School Board’s review and approval.

“We’ve got a couple of things that are Priority 1, but all of Priority 1 can’t happen until the first domino goes,” she said.

At Portage High School, the south cafeteria is a challenge for food service personnel because of the tight space. That’s one of the areas the architect is looking at. “The equipment alone, as you can imagine, is extremely pricey,” Alaniz said, to the tune of about $2 million.

As the project gets closer to actual construction, the district is looking at what equipment can and can’t be salvaged from the elementary school.

Newer equipment that still works well at Aylesworth could replace older equipment at other schools.

Board member Jeff Smith said he hoped the playground equipment could be salvaged, but that’s a no-go. It has aged, Alaniz said, and likely wouldn’t be structurally sound if it’s moved. “It’s too much of a risk,” she said.

“We’re making sure not to be wasteful in any way,” Alaniz said.

As part of the project, grades are being realigned to turn Fegely Middle School into an intermediate school. New cafeteria furniture will be needed because of the increased number of students there. The school will also see four lunch periods instead of three.

Storage there will need to be increased, too.

“It’s exciting, but it’s kind of scary at the same time,” School Board President Andy Maletta said.

“Fegely’s going to be a little bit tight at first,” Alaniz said, but she anticipated that.

Some teachers might use carts for a year or two instead of having their own classroom, but the district’s demographic study shows enrollment will continue to decrease, so that problem will go away.

As the city adds subdivisions, what if the study is wrong, Maletta asked her.

Even with razing Aylesworth and having one less elementary school, it still would be cheaper to operate an addition to another school rather than an entire school building, Alaniz said.

“We asked those kinds of things with architectural when we worked with Skillman Corp.,” the district’s contractor for the construction project.

On Monday, the board approved conducting a traffic study for the site of the new school. Instead of an entrance on Willowcreek Road, traffic will be directed to Central Avenue.

Requiring a traffic study is common for any construction project of this size, Maletta said.

As the end of school approaches, Alaniz and her team are preparing faculty and staff for the start of construction.

“When that last day of school happens, it’s going to be very quick before they mobilize to go into that building,” Alaniz said, so teachers are being encouraged now to make final decisions on what to move to their new classrooms elsewhere.

Teachers will get help moving their stuff out, Maletta said.

This school year has an additional faculty workday to help with the big move.

Personal items, the teachers can move, perhaps ahead of the end of the school year. Furniture and other items that are property of the district will be moved without requiring the teacher’s help.

The district is likely to hire movers to help with the project.

Get rid of trash now, Alaniz urged, to reduce the amount that needs to be moved later.

Alaniz is communicating with faculty about what they can do now to make the final move easier. “They are all grateful for the chunks of digestible information,” she said.

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

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/13/portage-school-officials-prepare-for-move/