McHenry’s historic Landmark School goes up for sale months before District 15’s year-round program shuts down

The last day of classes for Landmark School is set for June 2, but McHenry School District 15 could know before then who the next owner of the 131-year-old building will be.

What is unknown is what’s next for the landmark building in downtown McHenry.

Having deemed the building “unnecessary, unsuitable and inconvenient,” the school board voted after a closed-door meeting Jan. 21 to begin the process of selling the building at 3614 W. Waukegan Road.

“It is in the best interest” of the district to sell the structure, board President Chad Mihevc said in his motion before the unanimous vote.

McHenry’s elementary school district voted in July to close the school at the end of the current school year, less than four months after determining the building needed too much work. The district’s engineering consultants reported in April an estimated a price tag of $10 million to $12 million to bring the structure up to standards.

The process to sell the historic school began Friday, with a legal ad placed in the Northwest Herald. That legal ad, also set to run Feb. 14 and Feb. 21, states that sealed bids for the structure must arrive by 4 p.m. Feb. 28, and that bids will be opened March 3.

The school board did not say publicly, nor does the legal ad indicate, what a minimum bid for the school could be.

“The board did not want to establish a minimum price,” Superintendent Josh Reitz said. “The board has the authority to accept or reject any bids regardless of the price” offered in a bid.

One group of residents has talked about potential future uses for the building but does not have the funds to buy it, Jeff Varda said. A retired high school teacher, Varda is the former chairman of the city’s Landmark Commission.

He and others have been in discussion with Landmarks Illinois – a membership-based nonprofit that focuses on historic building preservation – about possible reuses for the school.

“We don’t have the money but are raising awareness” of Landmark School’s future, Varda said.

He and others interested in historic building preservation said they were disappointed that public meetings were not held to discuss the building’s future.

District 15 held three public hearings in April and May to get parent feedback on the school’s closure. Those hearings broadly focused on the year-round school calendar that has been in place there since 2001 and is a rarity in the area.

“The focus was on the year-round school. They didn’t focus on the history of it,” Varda said.

Mihevc said this week that “there were a lot of folks at the public hearings, but there were a lot people who were not at the public hearings. … That said, it was time to move on from that school."

If a new owner is selected via the bidding process, that person would be limited in what they can do to the building. In November, the McHenry City Council designated Landmark School a city landmark. Any changes to its exterior would need that board’s approval.

There is a chance that a successful bidder could “understand the importance and value of having a public building” with space for residents to use, Varda said.

The City Council also would have to approve any development proposal for the school site, and a potential redevelopment there could become a question during the April 1 elections.

Mayor Wayne Jett is facing a reelection challenge by 4th Ward Alderwoman Chris Bassi. Down the ballot, there are competitive races in all three aldermanic wards up for reelection in McHenry. The District 15 school board races are uncontested, with four incumbents seeking reelection to four-year seats and a fifth incumbent running for a two-year seat.

As for the city government, the spring elections have “the possibility of changing the City Council ... if they are elected to fight to make sure Landmark School’s [development] is best for the community and not a private investor,” 2nd Ward Alderman Andy Glab said. His seat is not up for reelection this year.

A developer “cannot automatically do whatever they want to do over there,” Glab said.

Jett said there are developers who seek out historic buildings for preservation and reuse because there is grant money available for that.

A mixed, low-density use would be ideal for the site, the mayor said, calling the property “one of the sites in McHenry that is special. With the relationship we have with District 15, we can get the right person to redevelop” the school. The city of McHenry is not interested in being that buyer, Jett said, adding that District 15 officials never officially asked, either.

“They said it ‘would be great’ if the city took it over,” he said. “But we don’t have the funding for the development or the maintenance.”

The school board could vote as soon as its March 11 meeting on whether to accept or deny a bid, Reitz said, adding that no serious buyers have contacted the district so far.

A new potential owner would not take possession until after the completion of Landmark’s school year, its last one.