High School District 219 OKs $7.3 million for Niles West pool repairs; open to building second pool

After getting significant feedback from students and parents, the Niles Township District 219 High School Board of Education at its December meeting approved $7.3 million for repairs to the pool at Niles West High School in Skokie, and board members said they will consider various options for adding a second pool.

Students, parents, coaches and advocates expressed concerns to the board that the repairs to the existing pool would not solve the problem of limited pool space. Before learning of the options to expand the aquatic center, many of those stakeholders told board members they were against the renovations if they did not include an expansion. A petition on Change.org that received 176 signatures said, “The proposed plan to renovate the pool is merely a temporary solution that fails to consider long-term requirements and benefits for our student(s).”

Former Niles North boys’ swim coach and current Niles West boys’ swim coach Paul Torres said the smaller pool at West meant he had to cut swimmers off the team for the first time in his career.

“It was an agonizing decision, as I had to choose eight boys that could not be a part of the team. All of them could swim with their face in the water, (and) breathe through the side on their freestyle. Nevertheless, I had to tell each one of them they could not stay because there was no room for them,” said Torres.

The district’s Assistant Superintendent for Business Tim Neubauer presented alongside Athi Toufexis, an architect from Studio GC, and Sarah Kowalski, the district’s director of operations, their plans for an aquatic center expansion to the board, labeling three options as Option A, B and C.

Option A would expand the pool area and provide a new eight-lane, 25-meter pool but does not include a diving well. Including the cost of the renovations to the existing pool, the total project cost would be $25.8 million.

Option B would also expand the area to add a new eight-lane, 25-meter pool, including a diving well. Both options, A and B, would include adding spectator seating. Option B would be the most expensive option, coming in at $36.9 million.

Option C would cancel the District’s current $7.3 million contract to renovate the existing pool. According to Toufexis, the pool would need to close for 12 to 14 months for that plan. Because canceling the contract would cause an expense of $970,000 in sunk costs, the total price would be $22,970,000.

The board unanimously voted to rule out Option C. Before the vote, Board Member Amber Wood said she was not in favor of the option because it was important to her that the existing pool at Niles West go through renovations. For next steps, Board Member Joe Nowick suggested that the board allow for more meetings with the public so that stakeholders could give their opinion on what would be best for the needs of the high school.

“This board has learned its lesson--- that we will listen and take feedback on the other options in terms of A and B about whether or not we move forward in what capacity with that,” said Wood.

Superintendent Tom Moore said the plans to add a second pool had been discussed as a concept for years. “These plans as concepts were discussed previously... I don’t want people to think this was some(thing) thrown together,” he said.

Niles North High School’s aquatic center received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) “Gold” certification — the second-highest certification level awarded to the “greenest” buildings in the U.S. in 2015. Niles North had its aquatic center remodeled in 2013, which added a pool, new locker rooms, coaches’ offices, meeting space, and storage areas.

At the board’s September meeting, Neubauer said the cost of renovations for Niles West’s pool was $4 million at the time it went out for estimate in January 2022. The price went up to $7.3 million because of inflation, and an increased scope of work, he said.

Board member David Ko said at that meeting he would consider tabling the renovations because of the high costs. “I would ask the facilities committee, then, what happened?” he said.

At the vote to approve the renovations, Ko was the sole opposer in a 6-1 vote. Ko was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.