The District 117 Board of Education approved an 8-acre real estate purchase for a plot of land south of Woodson at a special meeting last night.
The plot of land, located at the intersection of the Woodson-Winchester Road and Water Tower Road sits less than a quarter of a mile from Illinois-267. The board approved the purchase of the lot from Mark Pennell for a total of $320,000.
The plot of land is two acres larger than the plot that South Elementary sits on by comparison.
Murrayville resident and District 117 Board member Teresa Wilson says the purchase now lays out a monumental moment for the entire district, as the first new building will be built in the district since Eisenhower Elementary’s construction in the 1970s: “I just feel like this new building is going to answer a lot of questions, take care of a lot of concerns. And I would just hope that the entire district and community everyone get behind this because it’s only going to do good. I do appreciate Mr. Ptacek for the work that he has put in to get this accomplished because it’s a very large project. I am just very appreciative of the entire process. I’m glad we’ve got the land purchased now, and it’s a good road.”
Late District 117 Board member Steve Cantrell was a fierce advocate for the Murrayville community and for the elementary school. Cantrell passed away suddenly in September 2022. Wilson says that Cantrell is likely smiling somewhere at the thought of both a new school for the community and where it’s being located: “I am a little sad that Mr. Cantrell is not here. The true irony is that it’s right up the road from where he lived. The new school – he could see it from his house. I really hope that he is very joyous at this moment, because I really think he would be.”
Superintendent Steve Ptacek says now the ground work begins for the new school: “Our district architect Jamie Cosgriff can really start working on a final design so that he can get bid packages together. I think that will probably take place in the summer. In the meantime, we will be meeting with [officials from] Woodson, invite county officials, and some engineering firms to look at the possibility of installing a sewage line instead of having to go with a septic system. [Engineers] will also start taking soil samples to analyze the drainage of the dirt in the event we do have to go on a septic system. With the bids in the summer, we are allowing the farmer that cash rents the place to have this full year of crop. After that comes out, if they are ready, we can start doing some site work before winter happens, but the majority of the work will start next Spring.”
Ptacek told the school board he hopes that the sewer line can be ran so that further economic along that area can occur and spur some of the growth he thinks will happen in the next 10-20 years. If not, Ptacek says it is not a problem if the school is placed on a septic system. North Elementary School currently operates on a septic system.
Ptacek says the process will be different this time around with a new construction, but he feels everything should be fairly straightforward.
Ptacek addressed the rumors that had circulated during his tenure that one piece of his agenda was that he was going to close the Murrayville-Woodson School and bus students to Jacksonville. He says the goal was to always benefit the entire district, and he could not justify throwing millions of dollars of maintenance into the current Murrayville building when that same money could be saved to build a new building.
In relation to growth and restructuring of the district with the new school, he says a boundary change discussion will be held by the board to possibly move the Murrayville-Woodson boundary north to the Interstate 72 interchange in order to alleviate overcrowding at both South and Eisenhower schools. He says the new building will be built with the idea in mind that there will eventually be two classes per grade level, as well as the expanded Early Years and special education spaces that are currently needed to alleviate the district’s capacity concerns.
As far as the scope of his work over his tenure as superintendent, Ptacek says the new building is a proud moment of his career at Jacksonville: “There’s actually a lot of emotions right now. When we passed the sales tax referendum [in 2012], all we knew we were going to be able to do was one building. The thought of doing a couple of other elementary schools was in the works as far as trying to figure out a way, but never thought about trying to take care of Murrayville-Woodson the way we are right now. The building will be done in the Spring or Summer of 2027 and open in the Fall of 2027, and I leave in the Summer of 2027. I’m going to leave being very proud of being able to work with this board and all of the board members of the last 12 years in getting all of this accomplished.”
The board room had more than a dozen people in attendance for the meeting Tuesday night, many of whom are faculty, staff, students, and residents of the Murrayville area. When the final vote was cast, in a rare moment, the school board was given a full round of applause.
As far as the fate of the current 107-year old facility, Ptacek says the budget for the new building has an allocation for the demolition and remediation of the building at 307 Masters Street in Murrayville. Beyond that, the district, he says will have to make a decision on what to do with the vacated property.