By GLORIA CASAS |PIONEER PRESS |JAN 28, 2021 AT 2:20 PM

The Barrington Village Board approved the local school district’s annexation agreement and special use planned development amendment requests, paving the way for an addition to be constructed at Barrington Middle School-Station Campus.

Barrington School District 220 is looking to make improvements at its schools over the next several years following passage of a $147 million referendum in the March 2020 election. The first project is building an addition and making minor site improvements to the existing Barrington Middle School-Station Campus, officials said.

The 13,500 square foot addition will create eight classrooms, six of which will replace existing mobile classrooms, according to village documents. New collaborative learning spaces and restrooms are part of the addition. Site improvements include modifications to the bus access drive and new landscaping, plan documents stated.

Trustee Todd Sholeen asked at the board meeting Monday for clarification of where the addition would be constructed.

“I’m in favor of it, but I’m just wondering,” he said.

The addition would be along the north side of the middle school building, said Marie Hansen, SD220 director of development services.

“It’s actually taking up the same footprint where the mobile classrooms are,” she said.

A drive-through lane where students are picked up will be reconfigured, she said.

District 220 also sought approval to annex the property at 36 E. Dundee Road into Barrington as part of its project. The property is in unincorporated Cook County and had included a single-family home but that’s been demolished. The land is located between parking lots for an early learning center and the middle school, according to village documents.

No improvements are planned for the property right now.

While village trustees approved a special use planned development for building the addition and the annexation, the school district will still need to come back before the Village Board to get construction plans approved.