Lemont High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lemont, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Lemont Township High School District 210, which serves the Village of Lemont and small portions of Woodridge and Downers Grove. LHS also serves as a feeder school for Deaf/Hard-of-hearing students in the area.
History
Early beginnings
An old surviving document shows graduates in 1891, although Lemont High School was not officially formed until 1906, when five students (four girls and one boy) began meeting for class in the school building located at 410 McCarthy Road. The high school leased three rooms in the building at a rate of $500 per year. The original building is now used for condominiums, but the Central Elementary school is still connected to the East end of the building.
Building history
By 1925, after many failed attempts, an building was finally constructed at 800 Porter Street, where the school is located to this day. The original building cost $125,000 to build and included eight classrooms, a library, a science lab, a home economics room, and a gymnasium.
Expansion for growth
Student enrollment almost doubled during the 1950s, which in turn led to three expansionary construction projects. Among the new additions were an gymnasium (completed in 1950), and worth of classroom additions (completed by 1959). By the end of the decade, the school was equipped with wood, metal, industrial arts, and electrical shops.
Tornado damage in the 1970s
After occupying since the late 1920s, Lemont High School expanded to by 1967, with a significant portion of that land being used for athletic facilities. A $1.1 million project was completed in 1971, which added a new auditorium, kitchen, locker rooms, and more. On June 13, 1976, the school suffered nearly $500,000 in tornado damages. Shortly thereafter, the community passed a bond to rebuild.
Growth in the 1990s
The student population at LHS began to climb in the 1990s, which resulted in yet another expansion in 1997. The $24.5 million project added a three-story classroom addition and a fieldhouse, essentially doubling the building’s square footage to 300,000. A unique parking facility was also built as part of the expansion to help ease severe parking problems for students and staff.
Also in the late 1990s, filming took place at Lemont High School for the movie Save the Last Dance. The school was depicted as the main character's Midwestern high school. Portions of the front of the high school were shown during the beginning of the movie along with the main staircase inside the school. Other areas throughout the town were also shown in the movie.
Sports complex
Lemont High School’s facilities expanded off campus in 2003 with the completion of the Lemont High School Athletic Complex, located at 131st Street and Bell Road. The facility serves as home to the school’s baseball, soccer, and softball teams.
2006 expansion
With student enrollment continuing to grow each year, Lemont High School has undergone further expansion recently. In 2005, the community passed a $29.6 million referendum allowing the school to start an expansion which included a new and improved auditorium, approximately 30 new classrooms, a new wood shop, a turf football field with improved lighting and expanded audience seating, an expanded cafeteria area, additional parking, safety upgrades, and much more. Construction started in early 2006. The new addition of 30 classrooms as well as the football stadium enhancements were completed before the start of the 2007 school year. Construction on the new auditorium (now called the Performing Arts Center) was completed in March 2008. Other areas of the school, mainly parking lots and roads, were completed in the summer months of 2008.
The expansion included features that would benefit every Lemont High School student: