Offers accepted: Elgin U-46 moves forward on properties for future schools

Elgin Area School District U-46 officials are one step closer to buying land for new schools.

District officials Monday said their offers to buy two properties were accepted by the sellers. No closing date has been set, and district officials could not yet disclose what the district offered for the property.

The district made offers on about 5.4 acres at the former Sherman Hospital site, 901 Center St. in Elgin, and 12.4 acres of undeveloped land off Rohrssen Road, adjacent to Hilltop Elementary School in Elgin. The latter property is owned by the Chicago Archdiocese.

In April, voters approved a U-46 request to borrow $179 million to help rebuild five elementary schools, two of which date back to the 1800s.

The hospital property is near McKinley Elementary School, one of two schools that date back to the 1800s and is targeted for a rebuild. The hospital property would allow students to remain at the existing school while a new McKinley Elementary School is built, U-46 Chief of Staff Brian Lindholm said.

The 12.3 acres at 2604 Rohrssen Road would be ideal for a new middle school, Lindholm said.

The district plans to switch to a full middle school model. Currently, sixth-grade students attend elementary schools, but U-46 plans to move them to middle schools.

A new middle school would be needed to deal with the approximately 2,500 sixth-graders who would switch from elementary to middle schools.

Lindholm said the district has time to complete a review of the property and to work with Elgin officials on zoning issues before finalizing the sale.