Old Decatur school may become senior living facility
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — A site of an old Decatur school could be getting repurposed. The Decatur City Council unanimously approved an agreement Monday night to transfer the old Garfield School property to the city.
The city’s intention is to turn it into a senior living facility. A developer has been identified, but all plans are on hold until the city can secure funding. $20 million is needed to put towards the project. The city is looking to get the money from the Illinois Housing Development Authority.
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City Manager Scot Wrighton said this is a catalyst project for Decatur’s urban core.
“We try to do large visible projects in an area so that that large visible project will cause others to say, ‘Hey, if the city is investing in this site and making it look better, then I’ll go ahead and clean up my porch or put new siding on the house or fix the windows,’ or something like that,” he said. “And we see that happen when we’ve done catalyst projects in other places.”
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Wrighton envisions this being similar to the Roosevelt project that repurposed the old Roosevelt Junior High School building just a couple of blocks away from Garfield. If the money isn’t secured for the project, Wrighton said the city and school district will share demolition fees for the building.
As of now, there isn’t a timeline on when the city has to make a demolition decision, so they will exercise all funding possibilities before reaching that decision.
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