The Hinsdale Township High School District 86 Board of Education on Sept. 18 agreed to move forward with the design phase of a planned renovation of the Bouchard Center at Hinsdale Central and directed staff to prepare a request for qualifications (RFQ) for architectural and engineering services to support a targeted 2026 construction start. The proposal comes after community donors pledged the bulk of the project funding and a volunteer group led by Craig Castle asked the district to authorize design work quickly so fundraising momentum is preserved.

The decision matters to hundreds of students and staff: Craig Castle, who is leading the community fundraising effort, told the board the athletic spaces are widely used and urged a 2026 start. “We would love to have a start date of ’26,” Castle said. Board members and district staff described the renovation as a combined athletic-training, weight room and team-room project that would serve physical education classes and varsity athletes.

Board members said they want transparency and accountability in the use of donated funds and recommended an oversight structure linking district staff, board members and the fundraising group. Josh (district staff) said the district has earmarked $500,000 in capital for the athletic training relocation; district staff estimated construction costs at about $5.5 million and noted additional architecture/engineering (A&E) fees and furniture/fixtures/equipment would bring the early order-of-magnitude to roughly $6.2 million. The fundraising group expects to channel donations through the Hinsdale Central Foundation, a 501(c)(3).

Discussion centered on three items: timing, procurement and stewardship. District staff and the finance and facilities committee cautioned that issuing an RFQ can add time (staff estimated a minimum two-month process for solicitation, evaluation and contract negotiation), but trustees said a public RFQ could both increase competition and reassure donors. Josh said an RFQ is about qualifications rather than price and that fees are negotiated only after a firm is selected; he warned the RFQ route could delay the schedule if a new firm’s fee expectations required additional negotiation.

Board members volunteered to form a working group with district staff and the community fundraising team to accelerate the process and keep donor communications consistent. The board’s stated next step was to have two board volunteers work with staff and the fundraising group to prepare an RFQ and return an update to the board on the RFQ issuance at the Sept. 24 or Sept. 25 meeting.

Speakers raised construction-quality concerns during public comment, referencing previous pool projects with Archon Architects and Pepper Construction; community speakers asked that future construction work be put to competitive bid and that the district require clear accountability for design and construction defects. Craig Castle described existing athletic-training and weight facilities as undersized and dated and said approximately 75–80 students visit the training room each day and hundreds more use the adjacent facilities for PE.

The board did not adopt final construction contracts at the Sept. 18 meeting; trustees authorized staff to prepare the RFQ and to work with appointed board members and the fundraising group to define the scope, timeline and donor communications needed to support a 2026 start, if fundraising and design milestones are met.

The board also asked staff to provide a fact sheet for donors that would state the project timeline, roles and accountability mechanisms, and to clarify how donated funds will be managed and disbursed through the Hinsdale Central Foundation.