TAZEWELL COUNTY ILLINOIS	GENEALOGY TRAILS	NEWSPAPER TIDBITS

JEFFERSON SCHOOL, PEKIN ILLINOIS

JEFFERSON SCHOOL on S. Capitol Street, a Pekin Landmark for 70 years, soon will be no more.  The wrecking company, Jubilee Materials, Inc. of Peoria, moved onto the site Tuesday to begin demolition of the building.  The original Jefferson School was built in 1906 and an addition was built in 1924.  In 1973, 397 students in grades Kindergarten thru five, were housed in its 16 classrooms.  Acting on the advice of a Citizens Advisory Committee who studied the facility, the District 108 Board of Education asked Pekinites for a building bond referendum totaling $4.9 million.  The referendum passed on the first ballot and a new Jefferson School was built at a cost of $1, 135,300.  The balance of the referendum money is being used to build, remodel and enlarge other learning centers in the city.  The new school, built adjacent to the old one, was completed within the contract time, and moving day for the children was Dec. 22, 1975.  Present enrollment at Jfferson is 427 students in its 22 teaching stations, not counting special education and music rooms.  Next fall, an additional 80 students will transfer to Jefferson from Roosevelt school, which will be vacated.  Because of the close proximity of the new school, the wrecking copany is taking down the old building, which has walls about a foot thick, by knocking the walls inward rather than outward.  When the site is cleared, it will be landscaped in an arrangement providing both play areas and aesthetic beauty.

This article contributed by Carole Hill Martin

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