Now that it’s up for sale, what’s next for Landmark School? Public use? Apartments? ‘In district’s hands'

McHenry residents and historical commission members have begun to envision the future of the Landmark School building now that McHenry School District 15 has announced plans to sell the 131-year-old structure and collect bids for a potential buyer.

About a dozen residents gathered at a McHenry Landmark Commission meeting Wednesday to discuss the future of Landmark, as requested by resident Jeff Varda. Many would like to see the building repurposed for public use, while others simply hope the occupier will keep up with the maintenance of the building.

Ultimately, the decision is up to the school district and whoever purchases the building, city Community Development Director Ross Polerecky said.

“The ball really sits in the school district’s hands,” he said. “One thing I do want to note too is there are no plans to demolish this building whatsoever.”

The process to sell the historic school began earlier this month, with a legal ad placed in the Northwest Herald, stating 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.

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.

The land is zoned for office use with a conditional use permit to operate as a school, Polerecky said.

Commission member Kirk Donald noted other ways neighboring towns have repurposed historical buildings, like Faith Lutheran High School in Crystal Lake and Bush Elementary School in Johnsburg, which were turned into apartments.

“We can keep the aesthetics of the building on the exterior and things can go on in the inside, and we can keep the beauty of the building in that way,” he said.

Resident Stephanie Carbone said she would like to see it repurposed into an event venue or a museum. McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce President Molly Ostap said she would personally like to see the building turned into an art guild or a theater, but worries if that business model would have enough financial stability to keep up with building maintenance.

“More than anything, we want it to be able to be here in 50 years and not falling apart because it just sat empty,” she said. “It’s got to make enough money to be sustainable, too.”

If there are no buyers or if the district does not accept any bids, building maintenance will remain under the district’s responsibility, Polerecky said.

“They have no reason to not maintain it, because if they don’t maintain the structure, then it becomes economically less viable to sell,” he said.

Passion for the building and local history poured out of residents during their comments. Former McHenry County Historical Society Museum administrator Nancy Fike shared a story of the school’s first janitor, a Civil War veteran who was the first Black person to establish a permanent home in McHenry.

“We need more stories like that,” Fike said. “And buildings like Landmark are places where you find stories like that.”

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 price tag of $10 million to $12 million to bring the structure up to standards. The school houses the district’s only year-round program, which the district has no plans at this point to relocate.