March 2018

W March 2, 2018 news 5
Due to the nature of Maine West’s
current front entrance, the administration
likewise sees opportunities for addressing
security concerns. “Right now,
you buzz in, but if you want to, you
can go upstairs or you can go anywhere
because the check-in desk is beneath
the staircase. We’re talking about having
an area where a person comes in
and gets cleared before being able to
enter the rest of the building, whether
it be removing some doors or doing a
bump-out or something,” Kalou said.
One of the largest
changes involves repurposing
the B-Wing
and C-Wing gyms to
25%
OF STUDENTS THINK
MAINE WEST SHOULD ASK
FOR A TAX REFERENDUM*
be rooms and making
a field house
instead. The visual
arts classes are the
most likely classes
to receive the current
B-Wing or C-
Wing gym space.
The other gym will likely be converted
into classrooms, RtI, or other student
assistance and meeting space.
A field house, with an indoor track,
court space, and new locker rooms, will
be constructed in the E-Wing parking
lot, attached to the current fitness center
hallway.
Throughout the building, the administration
is hoping to add spaces for
student support, such as for programs
such as RtI, and dedicated spaces for
extracurriculars. The district will also
be expanding the CTE department.
“We have $300,000 from [Rivers] casino
to build a culinary kitchen. We
got the money over the course of eight
years because they were looking for a
tie-in for jobs that they needed and
programs that the school offered and
what they needed was cooks for the casino,”
Kalou said.
Yet, some facilities are currently
not being slated for major renovation,
including the pool locker rooms
Draft #5 of the construction
plan shows
visual arts classes
moving to a renovated
C-Wing gym,
student supports expanding
to fill B-Wing
gym, and the
construction of
a field house at
the end of the
fitness
hallway.
center
which are only slated for a “light renovation.”
However, in a Westerner survey
of 140 students, when asked about
what construction initiatives they believe
Maine West should undertake, the
response that appeared most frequently
was the pool locker rooms. Additionally,
although upper E-Wing is one of the
few areas that has not seen renovation
within the past few decades, the music
department and its practice rooms are
not part of the plans for changes.
Kalou, however, explained, “the
district takes $5 million every year
and puts it towards facilities in order
to maintain and do what you need to
do. I don’t want to say that we’re never
going to do anything
to the music rooms
because we’re going to
accomplish as many
priorities as we can
with this master plan
and then keeping going
on this list of priorities
until we can do
as much of them as we can.”
All in all, if the referendum passes,
the district will then start the 12-15
month design process. After the design
process is complete, the building’s
construction will be staged in order to
create the least disruption of school
activities and the construction will go
for bid.
After reviewing initial proposals
describing the major
themes of construction,
junior Leah Kuhn,
a Principal’s Leadership
Team member explained, “Since different
kids learn in different ways it is
important for us to include multiple
spaces that are best suited for each individual
student in order for them to be
as successful as possible. I think that it’s
very important that we keep our school
updated because we spend so much
time here so of course we want it to be
a pleasant place.”
*from a Westerner survey of 140 responses
FINALLY, A FIELD HOUSE
BY DOMINIK BRONAKOWSKI
sports editor
After years of complaints from students and staff about the lack of a field
house at Maine West, change may be coming: the construction of a fieldhouse
has been placed as a priority as the district plans to gain funding for
construction through a future referendum. After long consideration, planners
are aiming to construct an attached field house in E-wing parking lot,
after determining that a free-standing building near Oakton Street was not
the ideal choice.
Currently, the plan is for B-Wing and C-Wing gyms to no longer be
used for sports and to be converted into classrooms or student assistance
spaces instead. “Physical Education courses are taught in the wing gyms at
this time, and we would need to meet the needs of the courses offered [within
the new field house]. By eliminating the B-Wing and C-Wing gyms, we would
also be losing a significant number of lockers, so that would need to be addressed,”
athletic director Jarett Kirshner explained regarding the plans ahead.
The field house has not yet been fully designed, and therefore, no specifics as
to the minute details or features of the field house have been determined. “Ideally
the track should be a 200 meter track with eight laps to the mile, but 10 laps
to the mile would be adequate. The field house needs to be able to facilitate all of
the field events as well like the shot put, high jump, long jump, triple jump and
pole vault. Anything
less than that from a Maine South’s fieldhouse has a 4-lane track.
track and field standpoint
would be a waste
of taxpayer dollars,”
head track and field
coach Andrew Trotter
said.
The size of the
fieldhouse currently
being devised is of
similar measurements
to Maine South’s, according
to Kalou. She said the layout of the fieldhouse is still being manipulated
in order to maximize both court space and track space. However, “it is still not
a competition size track, it is almost a competition size, but the cost of building
a competition size field house would mean putting the fieldhouse as a separate
structure incurring additional costs just to hold a track meet,” assistant superintendent
Mary Kalou said.
In regards to court space, the space is currently being planned in order contain
three full-size competition courts that then can be divided into four practicesized
courts. With the associated construction planned for the main building,
these new courts would replace the courts found within two wing gyms. Currently,
B-Wing and C-Wing gyms each have one competition court which is then
split up into a total of two practice courts. Overall, the new fieldhouse would
gain athletics one competition court.
Planners have struggled with finding the right space to locate the field house.
Kalou explained that although Maine West owns the property by the football
stadium and fields, building anything on the other side of Warrior Way would
be both difficult and costly. “We don’t technically own the property between
Warrior Way and the edge of the spec; it is owned by a natural gas company.
We can’t pass utilities across that line or build over it. If we were to put major
infrastructure over here, that means we can’t tie any water or any electrical to the
existing building.”
Because of the size constraints for a new fieldhouse, not all are in favor of the
current location and size of the proposed construction. “I believe none of the
construction will be beneficial to the basketball teams, if we trade two gyms for
them to be shared in one spot. It is going to be more distracting since there is an
overlap of boys and girls basketball seasons. We are not really gaining anything
with the current plans,” head girls basketball coach Kim DeMarigny said.
Another intent of the fieldhouse would be to centralize and cluster athletics in
one part of the building. “I believe the construction of the field house will make
Maine West a safer place and makes sense for visitors because they won’t have to
wander around the school wondering where all the gyms are,” junior Rachel Kent,
a varsity basketball player and Principal’s Leadership Team member, explained.