In a symbolic gesture reflecting its name, the final beam to be hoisted into the under-construction Legacy Middle School building in Elgin was signed Wednesday by some of the students who will be going there next year.
The beam-signing ceremony at the construction site allowed Ellis Middle and Hilltop Elementary school students to put their mark on the Rohrssen Road building that will be their legacy and that of those who follow them.
“This is the 197,000-square-foot school we’re building for you guys,” project manager Mitch Braam told the students as he pointed toward the $135 million structure.
Braam works for Gilbane, the company overseeing school’s construction, which began about 11 months ago. Legacy is adjacent to Hilltop and on schedule to open in the 2027-28 school year.
It’s just one project of many being funded by a voter-approved referendum that will allow School District U-46 to move sixth-graders into middle schools, realign school boundaries to better reflect enrollment, and complete postponed upgrades and improvements to school buildings.
In the 2026-27 school year, Ellis and Abbott middle schools in Elgin will house those students who will attend Legacy the following year. When the new school opens, Abbott and Elllis will close. Hilltop also will feed into Legacy.
“You will always be part of this building. Your legacy starts now,” Ellis Principal Nick Baird told one group of students who were bused to the school for the signing.
Baird will be Legacy’s first principal, overseeing a staff of 90 teachers in a building designed to hold up to 1,100 students, he said.
U-46 middle school principals, other staff and project partners also participated in the signing. Ann Williams, deputy superintendent of operations, said the event was held in advance of a topping-out ceremony, a construction milestone that marks the placement of the final structural steel beam at the top of a building.
“It is a longstanding tradition that celebrates progress and recognizes the collective effort of the construction team and broader community,” Williams said.
Braam said the 900-pound structural steel beam will be hoisted into place in about a week-and-a-half. It will go near the main entrance of the school and won’t be visible once construction is completed.
Williams said the project is progressing well. Foundations and slab work are complete, structural steel is being erected and roofing is underway.
After that, the building will be enclosed, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems installed, and interior spaces for classrooms, labs and shared areas built out, she said.
The beam was also adorned with logos for U-46, Gilbane, DLA Architects and the teal-and-orange Legacy Lynx, the new school’s team name and mascot. The latter was chosen through a collaborative process that included input from students, staff and district leadership, Williams said.
“Say cheese — or six-seven,” Ellis 7th-grade science teacher Armando Perez told students as they posed for a photo with the beam after signing it.
The steel span did include a handful of 67s, dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year, which sprang to life through TikTok videos. It has no particular meaning but is a popular thing for students to say if they want to make each other laugh or to annoy adults, Perez said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
