New Commissioner Appointed, New Park Contracts Awarded By Public Building Commission Board

The Public Building Commission’s Board of Commissioners welcomed a new member today.  Mary Richardson-Lowry, President of the Chicago Board of Education, was sworn in to the PBC Board as a commissioner.

As a member of the Board, Richardson-Lowry will also serve on both the Administrative Operations Committee and the Audit Committee.

Two new parks, one a new campus park alongside Marshall Metro High School in the East Garfield Park community and the other a Chicago Park District park in the West Lawn community, also will move forward after construction contracts were approved by the PBC’s Board of Commissioners.

The board further voted to initiate one new school construction project and one school addition project at the request of the Chicago Public Schools.

The Marshall Metro High School Campus Park project will develop a 10.3 acre site at 3250 W. Adams St., installing a multi-purpose field for football and soccer, a softball field, landscaping with shade trees, an arboretum and ornamental lighting and fencing. Additional parking also will be created by the project.

The contract for the project was awarded to John Keno & Company, Inc., which submitted the lowest of eight responsive bids with a bid of $2,770,000. The company committed to a minimum of 24 percent minority-owned business participation on the project and minimum four percent women-owned business participation.

Also approved was a contract for the development of Chicago Park District Park 484, to be located at 4701 W. 67th St. The renovated park will feature four baseball diamonds and one softball diamond, as well as a walking path around the nine-acre site.

The contract for the project was awarded to the Chicago Commercial Contractors/Speedy Gonzalez Landscaping joint venture, which submitted the lowest of 14 responsive bids with a bid of $1,563,038. The company committed to a minimum of 41 percent minority-owned business participation on the project and minimum four percent women-owned business participation.

The board also voted to accept requests from the Chicago Board of Education to undertake the design and construction of the new William Jones College Preparatory High School at 606 S. State St. as well as to oversee an addition and renovation to Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School at 955 W. Garfield Blvd.

The new William Jones College Preparatory High School will be a 1,200 student high school.  The addition at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School is projected to bring the facility another 4,800 square feet, with a lunchroom, a multipurpose room and a warming kitchen to be included. The Holmes project also will include the renovation of the existing gymnasium and kitchen area and the construction of a campus park with artificial turf.

In other business, the PBC Board of Commissioners:

• Approved a request from the Board of Education to take undertake the design and construction of an artificial turf field at John C. Burroughs School at 3542 W. Washtenaw Ave.;
• Approved a request from the Board of Education to provide formulation services for the Wellington Elementary School, where renovation work will prepare the former Notre Dame High School for Girls for opening as an elementary school at 3000 N. Mango St.; and
• Approved five bid packages on the Ogden Elementary School project, underway at 24 W. Walton St.

The PBC manages construction and renovation projects for the City of Chicago and its other agencies. Mayor Richard M. Daley serves as the PBC’s chairman. Additional information about the PBC and its projects is available at the agency’s Web site: www.pbcchicago.com.