As the school year ends and summer schedules begin to take shape, West Chicago Community High School has announced a summer 2026 auditorium renovation, which will upgrade the space used for school productions, guest speakers, and community events.

Factors including budget, WeGo Drama requirements, and design considerations informed the decision to proceed with renovations, which was first discussed at the beginning of the school year during the annual school projects discussion.

“So we usually start the process of discussing possible projects in September, October of the school year, probably even a little before that,” Executive Director of Business Services Dan Oberg said. “[We] always try to determine how much money that we’re going to have with the budget, and then what projects we might want to do for that upcoming summer.”

In honor of WEGO’s 100th anniversary of the original school building in 2026, the auditorium — which is an original part of the school’s campus and has not been renovated since the early 2000s — came up as a contender for projects.

“I believe it was renovated in the early 2000s, and so part of the reason that we talked about the auditorium is it’s going to be the 100-year anniversary of the school, and that’s a main part of that building and main part of that area,” Oberg said. “So we thought it’d be nice to coincide with those, give the auditorium just kind of a facelift as we went into that 100 Year Anniversary Celebration.”

Through the school’s operating budget, which includes property taxes and funding from the state of Illinois, WEGO was able to set aside money for the auditorium renovations, as well as establish a timeline for the project.

“So the budget for the auditorium is just under 1.5 million, and they should start that as soon as [students] leave for the summer,” Oberg said. “They should start that process and be done by the end of July.”

Because renovations are scheduled to last through much of the summer, they may affect the timeline of certain school events, such as WeGo Drama’s summer programming.

“As long as everything stays on schedule, we should be fine,” WeGo Drama director Mark Begovich said. “But what it will impact is we sometimes do some extra things in the summer at the very start of the school year. We’ve been planning for that, so we did a little bit extra this year at the start of the year, so that next year, when we don’t have that opportunity to be right there, it won’t impact as much. For example, our student directors: this year, I had two different student directors instead of a single student director.”

Although renovations may slightly affect productions, both Begovich and WeGo Drama member junior Abigail Ballard said they are excited to see and work in the updated theater.

“I don’t know what it’s gonna look like, so I’m excited to come back next year and just have a whole new, fresh [start],” Ballard said. “Now that it’s getting renovated, it could bring more people in to have more discussions and stuff like that, also for classes that use it.”

Despite slight changes in their show scheduling, members of WeGo Drama were able to work with Oberg and the design team to make sure an ideal atmosphere is created.

“It was a wonderful opportunity because they included me, and, more importantly, our auditorium manager and tech director, Chris Jensen, to at least give our input as part of the team deciding,” Begovich said. “We were able to give some insight to make sure that whatever the renovation is, it is definitely focused for all students and all people who use the auditorium, not just the theater, but also theater.”

The theater renovations will include removing red-colored elements and replacing them with blue, installing new carpeting, repainting the walls, and adding new seating. Oberg mentioned the project planned for this summer aimed at refreshing the theater’s appearance while still preserving and incorporating the historic elements it originally featured.

“There’s no reconstruction of walls or moving things around. We didn’t have the budget for that,” Oberg said. “Our architects helped us to design some options and just take a look at a few things. There’s some blue concepts that match Wildcat blue, and then the paint on the walls is going to be pretty much the same color that it currently is, just fresh. We want to keep the historic features that were part of 1926, so we didn’t want to fully modernize it.”

Aside from the overall aesthetic, the planners also valued accessibility and comfort that can welcome a diverse audience while also ensuring the space remains workable.

“Because lots of people use the auditorium, there are lots of various avenues,” Begovich said. “I was very big picture in my discussion as to what would be good for all. Mr. Jensen was very good about offering suggestions for changes to sound or lights as part of the renovation, and how it would look for all users. I really like that we’re going to take into effect people who are differently abled. We’re making some changes there to help how the auditorium is laid out, and seating is laid out, plus sight lines. For lack of a better term, when somebody walks in, they’re going to see a pretty auditorium.”

The ultimate goal is an efficient renovation process that creates a more aesthetically pleasing and accessible experience for viewers and visitors while also balancing the needs of WeGo Drama.

“Now that it’s getting renovated, it can give us more opportunities to bring people into the shows so that they have the opportunity to see our amazing productions,” Ballard said. “It could bring more people in to have more discussions and stuff like that, also for classes that use it. ”