The Flossmoor School District 161 Board of Education approved a fee letter on May 26 with Wold Architects and Engineers for architectural and engineering work tied to the district’s 2027 classroom refresh projects at Flossmoor Hills Elementary School and Western Avenue Elementary School.
The agreement authorizes Wold to complete the design and bid package work for the 2027 construction projects at a cost of $280,958 after a $15,000 reduction connected to issues from the district’s 2026 construction work.
District documents state the original fee proposal totaled $295,958, or 7.75% of the estimated $3.8 million construction budget, before the reduction was applied.
During the meeting, board member Michael Rouse III asked whether district administrators received feedback from Wold regarding concerns previously raised by the board about the project fees and prior construction issues.
Associate Superintendent Frances LaBella said the revised agreement reflected those discussions.
“Yes, this is a reflection of that,” LaBella said, according to the meeting transcript.
LaBella explained that the original fee proposal was reduced by $15,000 “to compensate from the steel issue in 2026.”
According to the revised fee letter, the district plans to renovate classrooms, corridors, toilets and other interior spaces at both schools. The Flossmoor Hills work will also include improvements to specialty spaces, office spaces, the multipurpose room, exterior doors and plumbing fixtures, while Western Avenue renovations will include the gymnasium and interior tuckpointing work.
The fee letter states the district and Pepper Construction developed an estimated construction cost budget of $3,818,808, with the overall project cost budget totaling approximately $4.58 million once contingencies and soft costs are included.
Following the meeting, LaBella said Tuesday’s vote only approved the architectural fee letter and not the full construction project itself.
“First, we’ll do the fees for the architect,” LaBella said after the meeting. “The board will approve the total scope of work, and then we’ll go out to bid. Once the bids come back in, then we’ll go back to the board and approve the bids.”
District documents state the current timeline calls for the project to go out to bid by the end of September, with bids expected to open in October before returning to the board for approval in November.
