Construction starting soon to rebuild Elizabeth Forward High School after devastating fire

Nearly a year and a half after flames and smoke caused significant damage to Elizabeth Forward High School, construction is set to begin to rebuild the damaged structure and make improvements throughout the building.

>> Fire severely damages Elizabeth Forward auditorium; Community raises money to support students

“To have this vision now of the future - something that’s going to change the district for hopefully the next 30, 40, 50 years - long after I’m gone, is just incredibly exciting,” said District Superintendent Keith Konyk.

In recent days, school board members unanimously approved five separate contracts for the construction, totaling about $53 million.

“We took advantage of this extremely bad situation to evaluate all of our needs in the district and what the future of EF looks like,” said School Board President Tom Sharkey.

Construction teams will break ground this September. Over the course of two years, the building will get a new gym, mechanical room, auditorium, main entrance and more. Facility and code upgrades will take place throughout the entire building. Classrooms will finally have air conditioning, and the school will receive state-of-the-art sprinklers and controls should there ever be another fire.

Konyk told Channel 11 he doesn’t expect the construction to impact learning during the school year, as the bulk of the damage happened outside of the academic wing.

The construction’s price tag has nearly doubled from preliminary plans.

Leaders plan to pay for it by combining the insurance claim, bonds and district funds. The district has also applied for several grants.

“The district has gone through the process with our business manager to plan this out to make sure this won’t be something that falls on the taxpayer,” Sharkey said.

Leaders told Channel 11 that investigators were never able to determine what caused the fire, but they were able to rule out electrical issues.

A second phase of the plan will likely include consolidating other buildings within the district to make learning and operations more efficient, per leaders.

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