By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – District 87 will be reaching deeper into its wallet than initially expected to renovate the Orchestra and Choir room at Bloomington High School.

The school board approved a bid from Champaign-based Petry-Kuhne Company to renovate BHS for $674,576, which is $74,056 higher than the initial anticipated cost.

Superintendent Barry Reilly explained the additional costs stem from the addition of a sprinkler system to the area around the Orchestra and Choir room.

“We looked at providing that within the scope of this work, along with some minor renovation to the hallway to kind of make it flow nice,” said Reilly.

The cost, Reilly explained, was balanced by other projects such as adding field turf for BHS costing less than expected.

“What we looked at was the overall scope of all the work that we’re doing and if we are lower in one area and we can absorb it in this area, we felt like that would be okay to move forward,” Reilly said.

This is the second bid to come in at a higher-than-expected cost, following the board’s approval of a contract from Johnco Construction to expand the fine arts facility at BHS. That contract will cost the district $3.84 million, which is about $300,000 over the initial cost estimate.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].