Problem With Hinsdale South Fieldhouse Project

DARIEN, IL – The new flooring on the track in the Hinsdale South High School's fieldhouse has a problem – it lacks the traction that runners need around the curved portions, the school district said last week.

New flooring was installed last summer in the fieldhouses at Hinsdale South and Central.

The first concerns about South's fieldhouse track were aired during indoor track practice in January, according to a Hinsdale High School District 86 memo.

The district's contractor, Tarkett, told the district to try cleaning the track with a more abrasive pad on its scrubbing machine. But that did not work, the district said.

Through negotiations, the district agreed to pay $94,000 for Tarkett to apply a new coating that would provide traction, the memo said.

At Thursday's board meeting, member Asma Akhras asked whether the district could have prevented the problem.

Josh Stephenson, the district's chief financial officer, said the district undertook the fieldhouse projects at the same time it was doing $36 million in other work.

At a different time, Stephenson said, the district may have been able to focus more on individual projects – for instance, conducting more site visits to other schools with similar tracks.

"I can't say whether it would have ended up any differently because it's a unique space," Stephenson said.

He said the district increased the amount of construction work in 2022 because of a favorable economic environment for projects.

The board unanimously voted to spend the $94,000.

The project is set to start Aug. 15 and be ready for use two weeks later.

The timeline does not displace any matches or practices in the fieldhouse, the district said.

The district is also dealing with problems with its pool at Hinsdale Central. It was replaced two years ago, paid for with proceeds from a 2019 voter-approved referendum.

The fieldhouse flooring was not paid for with referendum money.