Due to the high repair costs to the South Entrance’s outdoor canopies and the need for more space for study halls, a South Lobby will be built by the south entrance this summer.
According to principal Kaine Osburn, the original proposition was to fix the canopies in the South Entrance, but it was too expensive and wasn’t worth fixing.
“The budget for [the canopy restorations] seemed really high. If we raised the budget a little bit, [we could] build a lobby there for about the same cost,” said Osburn.
As of now, the plan is to knock down the canopies, and close in that courtyard area with walls. The entire south wall will be windows, and it will fit more than 100 people, Osburn said.
“The South Lobby will serve as additional space for study hall, lunch, presentations, and meetings,” Osburn said.
The cost to build the South Lobby is approximately $700,000.
Construction is scheduled to start a week after school ends, and will continue up to the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
Note: The image provided represents the design of the South Lobby. It has been revised a little since then.
TheProcrastinator • May 18, 2011 at 10:54 PM
As much as I believe that this will make things more “comfortable”…is this really necessary?
The school has managed to fit all the students in areas of the school without an extra lobby.
$700,000 is a lot…I mean…when put in perspective…even though it may be totally irrelevant, do you know how many starving people you could feed with that kind of money?
And using it so that we don’t have to be a little bit crowded instead…it doesn’t seem legitimate.
Whatever floats your boat though, NW. I’m just saying that this school has managed to fit everyone in all the years that it’s been running…so I don’t get why we’re making a huge change like this.
mia • May 17, 2011 at 10:47 PM
why build an entire wall out of glass? won’t that make it very inefficient to heat that area during the winter months and keep it cool during the summer? it’ll look cool — but could potentially be either ungodly hot or cold, depending on the weather outside.
jaslup • May 16, 2011 at 8:55 PM
we should buy all the footballs in the world that will also help the school with the programs i think.
oscrod • May 17, 2011 at 11:51 PM
Good idea bro!
Bryan Taico • May 16, 2011 at 9:35 AM
Well, Mr. Osburn, as we are so excited for new canopies, I regret to inform you that there are other departments in this school that need the schools help. We have heard that the football team is getting new seats in the statium. If this is the case, I must ask why? The football team doesn’t win much of anything, unlike the fashion department. The fashion department would really like some money from Niles West, as we are using old machines and rusty scissiors. Our complete lack of space keeps us from being able to work and create masterpeices. We also need more qualified teachers, like Ms. Coglen, to help deal with the huge amount of people in Fashion. And I know that this year some students did not want to take fashion due to the lack of materials and space, also because the classes are no longer leveling up– less people are taking the class. People who have taken fashion for more then one year do not see the point of taking the same class year after year.
Thanks for your time and tremendous support of all departments in the school.
Sincerely. Bryan Walter Taico
d129student • May 16, 2011 at 11:19 AM
I understand what you mean, and I can understand why you would want new equipment for your area of interest; however, I believe the money for the seats come out of other funding exclusive to only the athletes that AS&T. With funding, we need to find a use that benefits a wide variety of students. I believe when doling out funding, we should be putting more money in the things that can be used by many students. I think the new study hall is a good idea. The school would look better, more room, and we can get some more natural light in Niles West. I say a win-win.
Dan • May 14, 2011 at 11:19 PM
If prior knowledge plays into any part at this school, the lobby will not actually be done for a additional 9 months after the planned finish day.
Aditi • May 14, 2011 at 5:03 PM
Wait, so are they tearing down the south entrance? Or are they building this near it?
Justin • May 13, 2011 at 10:31 PM
the $700,000 comes from a construction fund, not an education fund. so, the money is being put to good use in that it won’t really be used for anything else.
Rebecca Yun • May 13, 2011 at 3:03 PM
This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.
Why would the district spend 700,000 dollars on a new lobby when we could be using that money for NEW SCHOOL LUNCH? Seriously… if we have 700,000 dollars to spend, at least spend it on something that we would all enjoy. I mean, if we have the money, save it for something useful. We shouldn’t be thinking, “Oh, here’s 700,000 dollars. Oh, I know, let’s spend it on a new lobby! YEAH!”
Honestly, what will the new lobby help us achieve? Will it prevent students from ditching class? No. Will it deprive us of 700,000 dollars that we can put towards something else? Yes.
Okay, if the canopies are in need of renovation, restore the darn canopies! We don’t need another lobby, so why build one?
Sam • May 15, 2011 at 3:08 PM
Wow… so much anger over this…
First of all, we COULD use another lobby. I have second period study hall and it’s a NIGHTMARE trying to get into the IRC. It fills up so fast, even when I run I don’t get in sometimes. Then I have to try to find somewhere else to swipe in (because apparently the school decided to start enforcing the swipe in system this year). If I try to go to the college resource center half the time it’s closed, so that doesn’t work.
Ultimately, I usually end up in the Lit. Center. Now, because I’m a tutor, I can stay there without getting tutored. But that’s obviously not true for other students. Those students don’t have any other good options on where to go, especially if they need to work on a paper.
They were going to spend this money on restorations to that area anyways. It was never going to be directed towards lunches or (before anyone brings it up) teacher budgets. This seems like a very practical way of doing things: two birds, one stone. Fix an area of the schools in need of repairs, and give students another study hall space.
A note to the administrators: If this isn’t already part of the plan, then I strongly suggest there be computers and printers in the new lobby. We need another place for students to work on papers and labs, along with other computer work.
Rebecca Yun • May 15, 2011 at 10:50 PM
I apologize for sounding angry; at the time, I was pretty ticked off that the school was building a new study hall space instead of getting new school lunch. I’m not so happy about the school food, if you can tell.
I now see how a new study hall could benefit us, it was just the way the idea was presented that made me think differently.
I can relate to you; 8th period study hall in the IRC is also chaotic, and most of the time, I have to speed-walk, if not run, to the IRC just to be able to use the computers. I will be a lit center tutor next school year, but I will probably be spending my study halls tutoring because I only have 3 study halls a week next year and the Lit Center requires a minimum of 3 tutoring sessions a week.
But seriously, if we could have computers and printers in the new study hall, it would be great. Actually, now that I think about it, we should probably ditch the wall of windows if there are going to be computers in that room… You never know who would be desperate enough to break the windows for a nice computer.
Tom • May 13, 2011 at 11:42 AM
What a waste of money… seriosuly.. do we realyl need this? for more study hall space….
Kaine Osburn • May 14, 2011 at 5:21 PM
Well, actually Tom, we do need more study hall space, as we currently have students in the auditorium during certain periods, which is problematic. Please see the earlier piece in the NWN about study hall. Also, Rebecca, as Justin points out, the money for the lobby comes from a construction fund. By state law, taxpayer funds raised for such a fund can only be used for that purpose. The school could not use the money for a lunch program to pay for construction. Finally, the point about the canopies is that they were beyond restoration. The most recent repair, of only about 200 square feet of canopy, cost nearly $25,000. The canopy was going to have to come down, and the windows facing the drive were original to the building, and were going to have to be completely replaced, so it wasn’t a matter of saving $700,000 for something else, it was a matter of making something more useful out of that money having to be spent in that particular space.