The Danville District 118 School Board has unanimously approved negotiations for a lease agreement with Carle Health for use of their now vacated building at 2300 North Vermilion. While Carle already has plans for the back part of the main floor, the front part of the main floor and the downstairs portion will be used by the district for three things: additional early childhood pre-K services, additional space for students in alternative programs, and a daycare center for children of District 118 employees.
Board member Darlene Halloran was given credit for getting the ball rolling on this. Halloran says, when Carle began building their Carle at the Riverfront project, she thought, “hey, we could use this.”
AUDIO: That’s exactly how it happened. It actually started a few years ago. We approached some people then, but the timing wasn’t quite right because they weren’t quite sure what was going to happen with the building. So once Carle at the Riverfront opened, and that building was vacant on North Vermilion; then we approached the right people, who are just so pro Danville, and want to be such good partners with people here.
(1st Picture) District 118 Board Vice-President Shannon Schroeder discusses advantages of Carle building lease. (2nd Picture) Carle Real Estate Manager Marty Smith (middle) smiles after speaking to school board. (3rd Picture) District 118 Board President Dr. Randall Ashton speaks with Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis about Carle building lease.
Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis says it will take a while to complete the whole project, but she plans to get some form of all three entities going at the Carle building this coming fall. Not only is a daycare center for employees a great way to recruit teachers, but Geddes also mentioned that 300 qualifying children are waiting to join the District 118 Early Childhood Education program. And, despite the expansion happening at Kenneth D. Bailey Academy, even more room for alternative classes will be needed. So now it’s a matter of getting the permits, and getting the personnel to do the work.
AUDIO: The difficulty of finding staff to work on the buildings because we have so many projects going. It is really my hope and prayer that we will be able to open, in some portion or some variation, this fall.
DHS Building Trades students were recognized during the District 118 Board meeting for their work on the new Friendly School at Lincoln Park’s Friendly Town Traffic Safety Education Center. Left to Right: DHS Principal Jacob Bretz, Building Trades instructor Adam Boyd, and DHS students Brady Ohlmiller and Madison Barnes.
The initial agreement called for District 118 to pay $11.50 per square foot for a total rental fee of $540,000. However, Carle real estate manager Marty Smith was present at the board meeting; and he says since the district cannot use it all right away, some adjustments have been made.
AUDIO: The proposed lease terms were $11.50 per square foot, which is considerably below market value. In addition to that, Dr. Geddis has expressed some concern that there is going to be some fit up and some time lapse before all 47,000 square feet can be used. So we agreed with Dr. Geddis that the first year’s rent would only be half of the total value.
Smith says some language is still being worked on, but there is a “meeting of the minds” on the terms. Also approved at Thursday (May 9th) evening’s District 118 Board meeting was that starting with the DHS Class of 2028, meaning incoming freshmen this fall, the amount of credits required for graduation will go back to the pre-pandemic amount of 44. However, this time there will be additional leverage allowed for certain electives, allowing students to focus more on their planned future careers or areas of study.
