Schoolhouse may get help from village
Mount Prospect's old Central School, which dates from 1896, has defied the ravages of time. Now it is in a race against time.
The village of Mount Prospect, however, might step in to push the school over the finish line in its quest for badly needed moving funds.
On Tuesday, the village board will vote on whether to spend about $40,000 to move overhead utility lines at the intersection of Route 83 and Central Road.
Removal is required to clear a path so the former one-room schoolhouse can be moved from its current home at Thayer and Wille streets to a plot at 103 S. Maple St., adjacent to the Mount Prospect Historical Society's headquarters. ComEd and Comcast are charging for the work, but WOW! has waived its fees.
The building has been awaiting the transplant for some time. It sits on land owned by St. John's Episcopal Church. The historical society rents the building for $1, with the right to purchase it for an additional dollar. But the one-year lease expires Feb. 22.
"If the necessary funding to move the school is not secured by that date, the lease expires, the historical society loses any claim to the building and St. John's is free to demolish or otherwise dispose of the building any way it sees fit," said Historical Society Treasurer Frank Corry during Tuesday's meeting of a committee of the entire village board.
The overall cost to move the building and secure it at its new location is $199,000. Corry said the society has already been able to raise $111,000. He said if the village is able to provide the $40,000, the society is confident it can raise the remaining $48,000.
The village board members who were present seemed agreeable to the expenditure.
Trustee Michael Zadel said this is a favorable time to approach the board, with the village in good financial health. He praised the historical society for making up for past years' cuts in the village board's stipend to the group by significant fundraising efforts.
"I think you have done a yeoman's task with fundraising, which is exactly what this board had asked for in the past," Zadel said.
Corry called the building "arguably the most historically significant building in our community."
It was the first school building in the village. It was also the first public library, and the village's incorporation papers were signed there.
On Tuesday, several citizens addressed the board in support of the measure, including former Mayor Gerald "Skip" Farley and former Trustee Leo Floros.
Deb Rittle, a teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School outlined the possible future use of the school.
As part of her graduate work, she developed a curriculum for Central School once it has been moved. She described a living history museum that would allow students to learn what it was like to attend such a school.
"Not many original one-room schoolhouses remain in our state or in our country for that matter," she said.
Resident Dave Toeppen also addressed the board, saying, "This building is a melting pot of Mount Prospect history. This is something that you have the power to preserve."