Building a dream
Comments (...)|
|
| Superintendent Jim Hermes shows some students where the new addition at John F. Kennedy School in Spring Valley will be built. The new addition will be built on what is now a parking area and farm land, and will connect to the current building on the north side. It will include a new gymnasium, cafeteria, stage and classrooms for fifth through eighth grades. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt) |
| Buy Bureau County Republican Photos » |
SPRING VALLEY — After 15 years, five superintendents and countless meetings, it's finally official.
On Wednesday, Gov. Pat Quinn announced Spring Valley Elementary is going to receive $12.23 million to double the size of the current John F. Kennedy facility.
"It's amazing," said Superintendent Jim Hermes. "We're going to build an outstanding building."
Hermes said school officials first began discussing expanding its JFK building in 1997, which would allow the district to close Lincoln School, which is 75 years old, and have all the students at one location.
In July 2009, Quinn signed a capital bill, and board members had hopes of $8 to $10 million flowing to Spring Valley. But despite being near the top of the list, having a shovel-ready project, and $5.1 million in bonds already issued, the funding never came.
On Wednesday, Hermes got the news from a most unlikely source.
"I received a phone call from a radio station saying, 'Congratulations, we just heard the news from the governor's office,'" Hermes said with a laugh.
Hermes wasn't going to take one man's word for it. A couple of coworkers hurried to their computers to verify the news, as did Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley.
"He's very excited, obviously," Hermes said. "He's played a tremendous role in this and helped us along, and we can't thank him enough."
Hermes said he thought of all the work and all the people who had been involved with the project throughout the years when he heard the news. He has a thick notebook with all of the paperwork filed for the project, beginning with Superintendent Mary Wells,and on through Dan Oest, Mark Cross and Dan Marenda.
He thought of all the board members, committee members and everyone who had worked toward this goal.
"Just the number of people who have kept their eyes on this project, and finally for us to be able to say, 'Yeah, we're going to be able to do it,' that's amazing," he said. "I'm excited for the town, and this is such a lift for the entire city."
The project requires $5 million in district money, which has been available ever since the school board issued $5.1 in funding bonds in May 2009.
With money in hand, and a tentative building plan, Hermes said the next step will be to start the fine detail planning.
"We're going to involve the community and most of our staff members in the planning of this," he said. "There's a lot of work ahead of us, but boy, I'll tell you what. There's not going to be a better feeling than when we're working on this project."
Hermes said they will keep their eyes on both the present and the future as they make their plans for a building that will serve students now as well as 50 years from now.
"Kennedy was built in 1968, and look how much education has changed since then," he said. "Computers weren't even a thought back then."
Hermes is confident the building will meet all of the district's needs, both now and in the future.
"We're very satisfied with the amount of money that has been given to us by the state, and we're going to be able to do everything that we want to do," he said.
Hermes is also confident a good use will be found for Lincoln School when the new building is up in an estimated 18 months. He has heard from several people expressing an interest in the building for a variety of uses.
"It's a great building; it's in good shape; and we've had outstanding people working on it, making sure it's maintained properly," he said. "There's a lot of history there, and you don't want to see that go away," he said.
Hermes and his district have been waiting since 2003 to find out if they’re ever going to receive funds from the state’s Capital Development Board.
"It has been such a long time, and there's always been reports, well maybe next month," he said. "It reached a point where people were like, 'We're not going to believe you.' It makes it all worthwhile today."
Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.
Comments
Total Comments 0 View/Add Comments |
There have been no comments made about this story. |
