Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – It won’t be the inside-out overhaul which Springfield and Lanphier High Schools have gotten, but District 186‘s massive construction plan has not left out Southeast High School.

In addition to renovations at the high school itself, the grounds will be home to a fieldhouse – 55,400 square feet with a six-lane, 200-metre track – which all three high schools will share.

Architect Kevin Handy of Graham and Hyde updated the school board on both the fieldhouse and Southeast plans.

“Last summer we kind of took the tour of fieldhouses in the area, and one of the things we heard over and over again was the difficulty of getting people in. Sometimes they would do portable bleachers inside the track, so you would have to cross the track and sit on bleachers in what I would call the infield” and cross the track entering and exiting the bleachers. “We made sure to plan a big enough facility so we could have some bleachers there” outside the track itself, Handy said.

As for Southeast itself, Handy said, “The entire building basically needed a paint job. The caulk joints needed refreshed, so we are going to go ahead and – the entire building – go ahead and refresh the exterior.” The renovations to the high school will include a new administrative entrance also.

Groundbreaking for the field house is expected in March.