Excitement is building for athletic field house additions and other facility upgrades totaling $79 million at District 218 high schools, district officials said.
Construction of athletic field houses at Eisenhower High School and Shepard High School are on track for completion by December 2025 and August 2026, respectively, officials said at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Theater expansions at both schools are expected to wrap up this summer, with more construction scheduled to begin early next year.
Business manager Anthony Corsi presented updated financing plans for the projects, which include selling more than $18 million in bonds during the 2025-2026 fiscal year. About two-thirds of the project costs will be covered by the district’s reserve funds, with the rest incurred as debt.
“We’re basically just filling in the gap between what we’ve already got and what we could take in without having to go to referendum,” Corsi said.
The district will set parameters for its bond sale during its board meeting on Aug. 21, Corsi said.
“We’re a pretty fiscally conservative district, and that’s not going to change even though we’re taking on quite a bit of debt,” Corsi said.
Superintendent Josh Barron said the investment will help the district stay competitive as nearby districts construct their own modern athletic facilities.
For example, construction is underway for a $40 million field house at Oak Lawn High School in District 229, expected to open in fall 2026.
“We want 218 and its 11 communities to be a destination for people to move to,” Barron said.
District 218 includes 5,429 students enrolled at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Richards High School in Oak Lawn and Shepard High School in Palos Heights.
The 35,000-square-foot Eisenhower field house will include a four-lane, 160-meter track, a 4,000-square-foot weight room, a batting cage, climbing wall, long jump pit and a pole vault area, according to the district.
The smaller Shepard Field House will include a similar size weight room, a three-lane, 130-meter track, two batting cages, a long jump pit and a pole vault area. Both field houses will include three basketball/volleyball courts and will be connected to their schools through an athletic commons and corridor.
Traffic and parking is not expected to be affected at Eisenhower this fall, but administrators are evaluating parking spaces and working on logistics for arrival, dismissal and traffic patterns for the next school year as construction continues at Shepard. Students’ families can expect to receive an update from the school on the week of Aug. 4, the district said.
Board member Candice Cantelo said she toured the Eisenhower Field House and was impressed by the features already installed.
“I felt like a little kid in there,” Cantelo said. “It’s a PE teacher’s dream.”
Barron said the district has not yet worked out how athletics will be organized in the new, larger space, but that after a semester or longer of use, administrators will craft a plan for shared use.
“It’s kind of a learning curve for us,” Barron said. “We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to use these spaces and schedule them.”
Though Richards High School won’t get a field house due to space constraints, Barron said, construction will begin on its gym space in spring 2026 for completion the following year. Their updated 7,000-square-foot gym will be designed for use by physical education classes.
The district will also relocate Richards administrative offices, with work expected between December and April 2026.
Though Eisenhower’s field house is expected to open in December, work will continue at the school to relocate the band and choir rooms. Construction is expected to begin in January 2026 and wrap up in August.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
