Morris Community High School elevator project continues into the school year

The Morris Community High School’s $2.18 million elevator project will continue into the school year, with the expectation that it’ll be finished by January, though Superintendent Craig Ortiz said it could be finished sooner.

Building and Grounds Director Mark Walker said the project got backed up a bit, but contractors are making headway and the elevator should be shipped to a distribution center in Joliet by Monday, Aug. 19. It’ll get shipped to Morris from there, and Walker said he hopes it’ll be at the school by the end of the month.

“They’re building the corridors that will lead to the elevator on each floor and finishing the rooms that were compromised to make room for this project,” Walker said. “So right now, everything on the inside is pretty much boarded up, so students can actually start school. The hallways are cleaned.”

Walker said the contractors worked quickly to get to this point, and he didn’t think it’d be ready for school just a week and a half ago. He said the building is ready to go for students.

Walker said there will be some construction noise inside the school but it shouldn’t be enough to bother classes too severely.

Ortiz said it’s difficult to appreciate how much has been done because it’s been covered up for the school year, but this project also included fixing some antiquated sewer and storm lines that wouldn’t be legal if they were installed today.

“The good news is they got over there and fixed a lot of that, and the bad news is it slowed the project down and created a big headache,” Ortiz said.