By: Andrea Azzo, Public Information Specialist
Eisenhower High School’s renovated theater and field house addition are being built, and you can watch the construction live.
Pepper Construction, which is managing the project, has two live cameras: the interior shot shows what will become the 9,000-square-foot theater with 376 audience seats; and the exterior shot shows crews building the 35,000-square-foot field house, which will include a fitness center and parking lot.
The theater will be available for presentations in August 2025, with performances ready soon after that. It will include three dressing rooms, a scene shop, and an orchestra pit.
The field house is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2025. It will have a capacity of about 5,000 people. Its fitness center will be about 4,000-square-feet with a capacity of about 80 people. The field house parking lot will have spaces for 54 vehicles.
There will also be two new tennis courts, bringing the total to five. The tennis parking lot will have space for 86 vehicles.
Construction at Eisenhower began in May 2024 as part of a multimillion-dollar capital project in Community High School District 218 (CHSD218) that the Board of Education approved in September 2023.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our students,” said CHSD218 Superintendent Dr. Josh Barron. “These improvements will blend our past architecture into our new spaces, modernizing our theaters, courts, and fields to become inclusive facilities that will foster more equity and success. Some have asked why not us? Now, we can say we’ve arrived.”
The second phase of the construction project is expected to begin in January 2026. It will involve construction for Eisenhower band and choral rooms, which will be located near the field house. Phase two cannot begin until the field house project is complete.
The new band room will be about 2,600-square-feet with a capacity of 130 people. The new choral room will be about 1,600-square-feet with a capacity of 80 people. There will be nine practice rooms ranging in size from a capacity of between one to 15 people. Construction for the new band and choral rooms is expected to be complete by August 2026.
JP Architects has provided renderings of what the field house and theater will look like when construction is complete. The firm has also been providing video updates on the project. CHSD218 will provide updates as they become available.