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

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Acquires VPS Architecture

    Full-service planning, architecture, and engineering firm Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has acquired VPS Architecture, according to a news release. The move will help strengthen Wold’s education and public-sector design expertise, industries in which both companies have strong pre-existing ties and relationships.

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.