By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city plans to raze a nearly 130-year-old school that building officials say has deteriorated beyond the possibility for repair.
The decision to demolish Church School, 1419 Blaisdell St., comes more than 25 years after the first plan for redeveloping the property was pitched.
The school was shuttered in 1994, and Rockford Public Schools sold it for $36,000 three years later to Progressive West Rockford Community Development Group. That group planned to turn it into a community center, but that idea never came to fruition and the building deteriorated during its dozen years of ownership. The city obtained the building in 2010 for $16,500 worth of liens it had filed against the property, according to Rockford Register Star archives.
“The city explored multiple redevelopment opportunities for this site. None of them were deemed feasible or fiscally possible,” said Brandon Kruse, construction services coordinator for the city of Rockford. “The building is so far gone that it’s actually unsafe for people to enter the building.”
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The City Council’s Finance and Personnel Committee voted unanimously on Monday to approve a $323,720 contract with N-Trak Group of Loves Park to demolish the property. The deal still needs approval from the majority of the City Council next week.
Church School was built starting in 1894, and a gymnasium was added in 1936, according to information from the Rockford Public Library‘s local history room. Other proposals for the property included a multimillion-dollar plan to turn it into senior housing.
Now, Kruse said, the building has deteriorated too much for any redevelopment plan to be possible. The city wants to eliminate the blighted and potentially dangerous structure.
“We have to be very careful when we enter the building itself because there’s several floors that have deteriorated to the point where if you walk on the wrong area you’re going to fall through,” he said. “The roof is obviously leaking extensive water. There’s asbestos pretty much everywhere that is no longer intact. It’s actually a pretty hazardous building at this point and I think most people have realize that there’s not much you can do to save it.”
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If approved by City Council, Kruse said N-Trak would likely begin asbestos removal next month and start tearing down the structure in June.
The land would be left as open green space until a developer with an appropriate plan for the residential plot comes along.
“In the short term you take down the blight,” said Karl Franzen, the city’s director of community and economic development. “We still own the land, and we’ll still look for redevelopment opportunities.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas