NEAR NORTH SIDE — Students at Walter Payton College Prep will be greeted by a brand new building when school starts on Tuesday.
Crews have been working all summer to put the finishing touches on a new $20 million annex at the selective-enrollment high school, 1034 N. Wells St.
School principal Tim Devine told members of his local school council earlier this month that workers buffed the school's new basketball court, signaling their work was done.
The acclaimed school received $20 million in tax-increment financing funds last year to build the annex, which will include a new gymnasium, "black box" theater, a cafe and 16 classrooms. The building will boost the school's capacity from 850 to about 1,250 students.
More changes are on the way at other Downtown schools as well.
Ogden International School, which has campuses in the Gold Coast and West Town, hired two new assistant principals this year.
And a consultant is studying a potential merger between Ogden and Jenner Academy of the Arts as the two neighboring schools attempt to address their contrasting enrollment issues. Ogden's Gold Coast elementary school is overcrowded, while Jenner's is well under its capacity.
South Loop Elementary, which has long been one of the most overcrowded Chicago public schools, will start one of its last school years in its current building before moving to a new, bigger facility at 16th and Dearborn streets.
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