Lake Zurich School District 95 will be salvaging the granite namesake of the former high school that stood 93 years ago on Church Street by memorializing it in a monument.
As the demolition of May Whitney Elementary School begins in the weeks ahead, the school board voted 7-0 at the Jan. 27 board meeting to construct a monument for the former Ela Vernon High School that once stood on the same site using granite bricks from the school demolition at an estimated cost of $50,000.
“When we bid the work for the demolition of May Whitney, we had some alternates for salvaging the bricks, limestone and granite,” Vicky Cullinan, assistant superintendent for business and operations, told the board. “We worked with the facilities committee to consider some options to repurpose these elements into a monument that commemorates the building that stood there. We’re looking to incorporate that commemoration into the new softball field complex.”
Cullinan said the facilities committee considered several options. The recommended monument design takes the limestone bearing the name of the former high school and puts it at the ground level as part of a monument that she said would probably be near the entrance to the school campus.
She said the committee is looking to save bricks from the demolition to build the monument, along with using the piece of limestone and granite that reads “Ela Vernon High School.” This option would save the district money.
The committee considered four options for repurposing portions of the May Whitney limestone, with costs that ranged from $50,000 to $250,000, according to a memo from Cullinan.
There was no board discussion on this item during the meeting.
The May Whitney demolition project is one of many planned by Lake Zurich District 95 to be funded by money approved as a part of the March 2018 referendum. More than 67% of the voters supported allowing the district to issue $77.6 million in bonds to fund facility improvements, according to the district website. The existing May Whitney school building will be demolished and a new elementary school will be built on the site, with outdoor recreational space.
“May Whitney was originally constructed in 1929 as a high school with the large, two-story brick masonry building that is still used today and served that purpose until Lake Zurich High School opened in 1974. It served as a middle school from 1975 to 2004, when Middle School North opened,” according to history of the school presented by the district.
“After opening in 1929 as a two-story building with a basement, CUSD-95 added both a one-story building with a basement and a three-story building with gym in 1950. Then, in 1959, three-story and two-story additions were built and another three-story addition was constructed in 1960. Finally, in 1990, six new classrooms were added and connected to the original building. The site has remained under the CUSD-95 control for over 90 years.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
