As early as 1918 the Morton High School Board of Education, anticipating future needs, considered purchasing the current site of Morton West High School. However the land, then known as Gage Farm, was not for sale. In 1926 the district did purchase a two-block area of land as Wisconsin Avenue and 29th Street in Berwyn, Illinois as a potential future site. The area north of Proksa Park and south of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks was to be a Berwyn High School campus.
By the 1930's, with enrollment at Morton East High School increasing to 9,500 in the high school and junior college, students were forced to attend classes in two daily split shifts -- juniors and seniors in the morning and freshmen and sophomores in the afternoon. It soon became evident that the land near Proksa Park was no longer large enough for a new school facility. The depression years, the lack of public support, and several lengthy court actions delayed negotiations many years for a new educational facility.
