More Cost Overruns For Elmhurst D205 Projects

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 is seeing millions more in cost overruns for projects paid for by voter-approved debt.

In 2018, voters supported a $168.5 million referendum for projects throughout the district.

As of Wednesday, the estimated actual costs for the projects are $192.3 million, 14 percent over the original budget. That means overruns of $23.8 million, much of it for increases in the scope of projects.

Those numbers were presented Wednesday at a meeting of the school board's finance committee.

The committee last met in March, when officials said the overruns were $20.3 million.

The latest big overrun is the auditorium addition and interior renovations at Churchville Middle School.

In 2018, the Churchville work was estimated at $11.6 million. That number has since risen to $16.8 million, a 45 percent increase.

"The auditorium is bigger than we anticipated in 2018," said Todd Schmidt, the district's director of facilities. "We'll know more once we send this out to bid."

The auditorium is set to be 1,700 square feet larger than originally expected, officials said.

Another project with escalating estimated costs is the complete renovation of the Madison Early Childhood Center. In 2018, it was estimated at $8.9 million. That has since increased to $11.9 million, up by a third.

Officials say they are tapping into the district's bank accounts to cover the added costs.

At a school board meeting in July, member Kara Caforio said it was time for another update on referendum projects. The full board last received a report in February, which was before two new members were elected in April.

In 2021 and 2022, officials gave the board reports on referendum-related projects at least every other month.

The two biggest referendum projects are done – the reconstruction of Lincoln and Field elementary schools.