Established before 18 year olds could vote, Mundelein High School is starting to get old. Mundelein has dealt with aging problems before, shown best by the opening of the STEM building 2016. Yet with freshman classes growing and growing in size, with this year totaling almost 700, MHS will need more space than ever to accommodate all of its students.
For years, we have focused on the problem it provides inside the school, however, in this year’s referendum, there are plans long overdue to improve the overcrowded and broken down parking lot. (With no renovations having been made since the schools opening), the 350 students parking spots and 724 total spots cannot handle the countless extracurriculars and the day to day traffic of a student travels.
However, that could all change this November.
If the current referendum passes, Mundelein High School will have a complete parking lot renovation, which includes a road around the entire school to help with the flow of drop off and pick up and at least 100 new spots. Director of Maintenance and Facilities Kevin Quinn, who has been a big part of the process, added that, “scale wise, we should add about a third [of the total spots we currently have]”.
That is a massive increase, which should open up way more parking spots for students and fans. This will massively alleviate the stress of getting in and out of the parking lot before school, which parents and students agree is a hassle to do every morning.
There is also the new road that will encircle the school. Extending from the current upper parking lot, it will go between the natatorium and football field, going all the way to the end of the fieldhouse they plan to add. From there, it goes west until the existing neighborhood, where it then goes south and connects back to the current teacher lot and onto Hawley.
Quinn was very excited about the road, as it will completely revamp the traffic flow of MHS. Instead of a tight, bumper to bumper drop off that is exclusive to the main lot, there will be multiple entrances to the school and multiple exits, which for the first time, will be available on multiple sides of the school.
For all the benefits the school will receive, these improvements are no guarantee. “We still have to wait for it to pass,” Quinn said. Everything would be scrapped for at least another year if the referendum fails to pass, and over that year any of the plans could change.
MHS is getting older, no question about that. Overcrowding is and will continue to be an issue. Students and parents alike deal with these problems daily. From minor inconveniences to school wide issues, the referendum will help to alleviate those problems. However it’s up to the citizens of Mundelein to decide if this passes or not.
