NEAR NORTH SIDE — The Chicago Public Building Commission has awarded a construction contract for the addition to Walter Payton College Prep.
The board approved a $13.46 million contract to Paschen Milhouse Joint Venture III for the project, which will add 11 classrooms to the selective enrollment high school at 1034 N. Wells Street. The contract was approved earlier this week.
The three-story addition to the high-performing school will add 49,000 square feet and classrooms for English, math and science as well as additional space for art, music practice, driver's ed and dance.
The addition will include a special education and resource classroom as well as a gymnasium with locker facilities, a fitness room, student lounge, cafe and a multipurpose theater.
Two existing rooms in the current building will be converted into a biology lab and the existing auditorium will be upgraded with new theatrical and backdrop curtains.
The annex will be completed by the first quarter of 2016, according to the Public Building Commission, and the remaining renovations to the current building will be completed by the fall of 2016 in time for the start of the school year.
The school's current capacity is 895. The addition will raise the enrollment by 300 to 400 students.
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