Mt. Prospect Historical Society will seek bids for Central School restoration

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is beginnning preparation of bid documents for the initial phase of the renovation of Central School, with work to commence later this year. The one-room school was built in 1896.

Thanks to contributions by members of the society’s board and an anonymous $10,000 donation, the society can begin work that will focus on the reinforcement of the 116-year-old floor to bring it into compliance with modern building codes and the installation of a new electrical system, the society said in a news release Tuesday. Bid documents should be available in late spring.

Work on the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, fire suppression and plumbing systems, along with cosmetic restoration, will follow over the next several years in the building, which was saved and moved to its current location at 103 S. Maple St. in May 2008.

The society hopes to begin its centennial celebration in 2017 with a re-enactment of the town fathers’ signing of the papers of incorporation, which took place in the schoolhouse in 1917.

The society is working to raise $130,000 for the Central School Restoration Campaign so it can put the adaptive restoration project’s initial work out to bid.

The society’s plan is to raise $30,000 to $35,000 each year, with approximately $7,500 of that supplied by the board’s $30,000 pledge, which was announced last fall.

Board President Arlene Juracek said in a news release that the society was “thrilled when an anonymous donor came forward with a $10,000 donation in December.”

Greg Peerbolte, the society’s executive director, said the society now needs “residents, businesses, clubs and schoolchildren of Mount Prospect to quickly join this effort and help us get the school completed and open.”

For more information, go to www.yourcentralschool.org or phone (847) 392-9006.