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Central
School on endangered list
[MARCH
23, 2000] The
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois has announced
that Lincoln’s Central School is on the list of the Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois for the year
2000. The announcement was made yesterday in Springfield
at the state capitol, but was repeated this morning at a
press conference at Union and Broadway, across from the
school building.
David
Bohlman, executive director of the Landmarks Preservation
Council of Illinois, told the crowd of about 40 that the
school deserved to be preserved both because of its
architecture--typical early 20th century--and its cultural
significance to the people of Lincoln.
“It
is an incredible nexus at the juncture between historic
homes (on Union Street) and the historic business
district,” he said. “If the school is structurally
sound and can accommodate the program, there is no reason
to tear it down.”
He
said the school appeared to be structurally sound and
pointed out that it had been tuck-pointed only a few years
ago. “This seems to be a real easy one (decision) if the
school district would look at what it has,” he said.
He
also noted that among the alumni of Central School are
well-known authors Langston Hughes and William Maxwell.
The
nomination to put the building on the list of endangered
sites was submitted by the Save Our Schools Committee
early this year to meet a January 15 deadline. Bohlman
said the Preservation Council had more than 50 nominations
from which to choose. The choice is made by a panel of
judges who are active in historic preservation throughout
the state of Illinois.
The
Save Our Schools Committee, which has about 40 active
members, decided to apply for the endangered site status
late last fall when they realized the building was in
danger of being demolished, according to member Dale Bassi.
The
committee will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, March 28,
at 7 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 402 Pekin St., to
discuss strategies for saving not only Central School but
also the historic Lincoln Junior High School building.
Bassi
pointed out that in February of this year the board of
education for school district 27 voted 4-3 for a
compromise proposal that would have saved Central School.
In March, however, the board rescinded its previous action
and voted 5-2 to demolish not only Central but also
Lincoln Junior High School and instead build two new
schools at a cost of approximately $14 million.
Bassi
said he believed that the school district would “come
out ahead economically” if it decided to renovate both
schools instead of demolishing them and building new ones.
The
school district is applying for a state grant that would
provide up to 73 percent of the funding for the two new
schools. Applications for funding for this year must be in
by April 1. Bassi and other committee members did not know
whether a grant given for new construction could be used
for renovation instead, but thought the district might
have to reapply for another grant next year if a decision
is made to renovate either of the schools.
The
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, a statewide
private preservation advocacy group, has sponsored the Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places project for seven years,
Bohlman said. He noted that 65 of the 70 structures on the
list are still standing, although the final fate of some
are still in dispute. The preservation group could offer
the school district the help of a consultant on economic
and structural analysis, he said, but it does not provide
help funding preservation projects.
The
other sites on the list of endangered places for the year
2000 are the Spring Valley City Hall, Spring Valley,
Bureau County; the DuPage Theatre and the DuPage Shoppes,
Lombard, DuPage County; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity
Temple, Oak Park, Cook County; Sarah Atwater Denman Row
Houses, Quincy, Adams County; Platt Luggage/Ginn and Co.,
Chicago, Cook County; Waltmire Bridge, Tremont, Tazewell
County; Culver House, Decatur, Macon County;
Congregational Church building, Pittsfield, Pike County;
and Upland Kaskaskia Trace Corridor, New Design Township,
Monroe County.
On
display at the press conference was a poster showing the
10 sites and an architect’s drawing of Central School,
dated 1915. The drawing, which belongs to Marilyn Buelter,
came from the downtown building now housing Lincoln
Furniture, which was once the site of the architects’
office, Bassi said.
[Joan
Crabb]
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