PBC To Build Two New Schools, Campus Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 10, 2003
Contact: Jack Beary
312-744-9277

A new middle school will be built on the Southwest Side while a South Side school will get a new campus park and the West Side will see a new $18.3 million elementary school under plans approved today by the Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC).

PBC Board members voted to accept construction of a new Hurley/Tarkington School at 3330 West 71st Street, officials said. The Board also approved an $876,000 construction contract with G.F. Structures Corp. for a campus park and parking lot at Betsy Ross Elementary School, 6059 South Wabash Avenue; and an $18.3 million contract with George Sollitt Construction Co. to build the new Duke Ellington Elementary School, Fulton Street and Parkside Avenue.

Plans for Ellington School call for 38 new classrooms, an up-to-date science room, a library, a multipurpose dining and play room and a stage with theatrical lighting and sound equipment, officials said. The PBC routinely designs and builds new schools and improves existing facilities for the public schools. Mayor Richard M. Daley chairs the PBC.

Meanwhile, Ross School will see work begin on major improvements to its campus. Under Daley's Campus Parks Program, the City, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District will replace asphalt and concrete with a new jogging path, multi-purpose playing field, benches and ornamental lighting. Landscaping will add 50 trees, 29 shrubs and 176 perennials, officials said. Playground equipment will be relocated and a new teacher parking lot will be built.

Other actions taken Tuesday by the PBC Board, including the appointment of architects and owner's representatives, are listed on the PBC's web site at www.pbcchicago.com.