(Photo by Tom Houlihan/HF Chronicle)
At a ceremony Thursday, Flossmoor District 161 community members will celebrate the completion of Parker Junior High School’s $7.5 million addition.
School officials will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6:15 p.m. Aug. 27 at Parker, 2810 School St. in Flossmoor. The event, at the patio area in front of Parker’s new entrance, will be followed by a tour of the addition.
All members of the District 161 community are invited to attend.
A number of people will take part in the ceremony, including Board of Education President Stephen Paredes; District 161 Superintendent Craig Doster; Parker Principal David Kennedy; and George Reigle and Jerry Guy, representing Green Associates, the general contractor for the project.
The Parker addition includes eight classrooms, a science room, art room and “after hours” entrance to the building. Parking areas next to the school have been completely renovated and two bus drop-off and pick-lane lanes are designed to make the morning and afternoon “rush hours” smoother. There are now separate entrances for each of the three grades at Parker.
The project also includes a 2,500 square foot storage facility; in the past, District 161 has sometimes needed to rent storage space. There is a stormwater detention area to curb flooding.
In all, Parker has added 13,000 square feet, most of which will be used as teaching areas. The junior high now covers a total of 130,000 square feet.
