Senior living is out, but a preschool and lease space for other non-profits could be in the works at the city-owned former Churchill Junior High School.
The Galesburg City Council on Monday will consider on first reading a second attempt by local developer Rob Benedict to purchase the vacant Maple Avenue school building.
Benedict tells WGIL the Benedict Family Foundation would rehab and then lease portions of Churchill into an early learning facility and other non-profit agencies.
Benedict said one of the first tenants would be Head Start program. Head Start currently leases space from Benedict at 277 E. Tompkins St., however the federal organization is seeking a location better suited for a school environment.
Head Start would likely occupy four classrooms in the southeast corner of the former school. The school also could utilize the center courtyard for playground space.
If his bid of $100,000 is approved, Benedict said the remainder of Churchill would be leased to other non-profit organizations.
According to the written offer, Benedict is proposing to renovate a portion of the building and lease it to Hope Head Start by Aug. 12, 2024.
“It definitely needs some work, but it’s structurally sound,” Benedict said. “It’ll take quite a bit of work to make it usable.”
City administration says the sale of the property would eliminate the need for city maintenance of the property—such as weed mowing — and utility costs, and at the same time place the property back into use.
Plans for senior living ‘financially infeasible’
Last November, a St. Louis-based firm that specializes in creating affordable housing developments announced it was looking to purchase Churchill and transform it into an independent senior living center. Bywater Development Group submitted a bid of $305,000 to purchase the vacant Churchill Jr. High School property.
Bywater, however, recently informed the city that after research, its plan for Churchill was financially infeasible.
Aaron Burnett, president of Bywater Development Group, tells WGIL, “Our team was very excited by the potential redevelopment of the Churchill School converting its use to independent living, affordable senior apartments.
“In our view, the building, site, and the overall Galesburg community are all optimal for this type of development. Unfortunately, two main factors led to our decision. (i) the unexpectedly high cost estimates to convert some portions of the building (especially the gymnasium and auditorium areas) to residential use, and (ii) a significant national downturn in the market for pricing and terms of development tax credits that began to emerge earlier this year.
“Our plan envisioned these credits as the main source of financing this development. Regrettably, these two factors have rendered our plan for this property to now be financially infeasible.”
Burnett added, “We found the city’s representatives and leadership to be great to work with and we were eager to advance on this proposed redevelopment.
“While beyond our control, we certainly wish the unexpected changes in the tax credit investment market and higher than anticipated construction estimates would not have stopped us from being able to move forward on this plan in earnest.”
Benedict submitted the same $100,000 bid to buy Churchill last August, however pulled that offer when the city failed to expedite the process. At that time, his plans were to lease a portion of Churchill to an alternative school that has since elected to locate in the former NAPA Auto Parts at 883 W. Dayton St.
Benedict’s bid is for Lot 2 which includes approximately 6.62 acres and is the portion of the property where the existing school building is located. This lot will include everything from approximately 15 feet north of the school to the south property line.
The city would retain Lot 1 of the subdivision as green space for future use. Lot 1 is approximately 8.28 acres and contains the green space, the parking lot on the north side of Churchill and the vehicular entrances to Maple Avenue and Mary Street.
Mayor supports sale of Churchill
Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman says he supports the sale of Churchill.
“I do support the sale of Churchill at this time,” Schwartzman said. “I believe that it will be redeveloped and will be a positive addition to our city.”
The city acquired Churchill for $1 from District 205 in 2022 with hopes of transforming the former school into a community center. After much back and forth and public debate, a majority of the City Council last year voted to move on from Churchill as a community center location and sell the former school building.
“I don’t regret acquiring the property,” Schwartzman said. “It was a transfer from one taxing body to another. I believe the city was in a good position to develop it or have it redeveloped.
“It took a bit longer than I had hoped to get this done but I believe many ideas were vetted with the community and we arrived at a good place in the end. Government almost always takes a bit longer than constituents want to make things happen. I appreciate the patience of our community members.”
Schwartzman said Galesburg will continue to explore options for a community center.
“Strategic planning has started and I believe we will arrive with a beneficial solution within a few months,” he said. “I look forward to hearing additional input from residents on what they want such an ambitious project to look like.
“With the library now open, we can take lessons from them as well. Partnerships are an extremely important part of any future project.”
