Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Elementary School Built in 1800s to Get Modernization Upgrades

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/14/21

Dubois Elementary School, part of Springfield School District 186 in Springfield, Ill., will see a series of renovations start this summer meant to modernize the campus while paying respects to its 125-year history. The school, which was built in 1897, will get additional classroom space, smaller spaces intended for group work, and its first elevator.

The school’s historical entry point, a vaunted façade facing Lincoln Avenue, will remain unchanged. Construction items include a new service road for ease of dropping off and picking up students and a new main entrance at street level.

“It’s respecting our history as we move forward into the future,” said Principal Dan Ford.

According to the district’s Facilities Master Plan, other renovations include security upgrades, rebuilding the boiler building’s north wall, renovations to four bathrooms, replacing exterior doors, and upgrades to the air circulation system. According to the State Journal-Register, the school saw its last major addition more than a century ago, in 1916.

District superintendent Jennifer Gill said that the project is finally coming to fruition after “a lot of work and engagement throughout our community. We had nine community engagement sessions, asking our public what they wanted to see in our schools and also by doing an educational feasibility study, where we looked at every school and the needs they had.”

The work will come to a total of about $2.5 million and is scheduled for completion in February 2022. Funding for the project comes from a 1% sales tax approved by Sangamon County voters in 2018. The architect of record is the Farnsworth Group.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • Sam Houston State University Completes Athletic Stadium Renovations

    Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, recently announced the reopening of Elliott T. Bowers Stadium after an extensive renovation project, according to a news release. The university partnered with Stantec and DLR Group for the project’s design.

  • Carnegie Mellon University Receives $3B Gift to Launch New Campus

    Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., recently announced that it has received $3 billion—the largest individual gift in higher education history—from Citadel CEO and founder Ken Griffin, according to a news release.

  • Missouri K–12 District Cuts Ribbons on Two New Middle Schools

    Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, Mo., recently celebrated the completion of two new middle school facilities with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, according to a district news release. The district officially opened the new Pipkin Middle School and Reed Academy on Sept. 3, both of which were funded through the $220-million Proposition S bond program approved by voters in 2023.