Geneva School Board Votes 7-0 to Tear Down Coultrap

The decision is difficult, but despite pleas for more time to come up with an adaptive reuse of the 1923 school building, board members are unanimous in their decision that the Coultrap building must fall.

All seven Geneva School Board members said with reluctance Monday night that the historic Coultrap building has to be torn down. Board members rejected the notion of saving even the portion of the building that dates back to 1923, saying the costs associated with any sort of adaptive reuse of the structure simply were prohibitive. Here are their comments:   "When I ran for the board I was pretty sure I wanted to have students in Coultrap," the Geneva School Board president said. But as he became more involved in the Facilities Task Force and made inspections of the building, he came to know it was a lost cause. Grosso said the decision was anything but sudden. The district spent $10,000 in architectural consulting to find alternative uses…

•  26 Comments
• Photos (4)

Sue J

9:55 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Todd get over yourself. People are just voicing their opinions and you just seem to dismiss them with your own negative rant. You really should invest your energy somewhere else.   more ›

Geneva Woman Asks City Council to Help Save Coultrap From Wrecking Ball

A resident calls on the City Council for help saving the 90-year-old school building, but officials say the city can't and won't intervene.

A Geneva resident called on Geneva City Council members Tuesday night to weigh in on the possible demolition of the Coultrap school building, but elected officials said there's not much they can do. Carolyn Givens, 101 Sandholm St., addressed the council during its "new business" portion of the agenda, saying she is "appalled, frankly" that the School District would consider tearing down a 90-year-old building. "I’m appealing to you as a citizen of Geneva to tell the School Board that the old building is worth saving," she said. "They (School Board members) feel the building is a piece of trash they should tear down for lumber, and I think you as individuals should say something. The nails in this building are older than any of us here." …

•  9 Comments
• Photos (1)

Dan

3:13 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013

The article mentioned a vote will be at the jan 18 meeting, but that's a typo, and the meeting is tonight 1/28 at 7pm. Public comments can still be made before the vote according to the agenda on the boards website.   more ›

Coultrap's Last Stand: Will Preservationists Come Up With an 11th-Hour Alternative?

A Geneva citizens group is still thinking of ways to save the Coultrap building, even as a School Board vote approaches on Jan. 28.

With the clock ticking toward a Jan. 28 vote on the fate of the Coultrap building, historic preservationists are attempting to come up with an alternative to save the former high school, middle school and grade school built in 1923. Speaking at a Historic Preservation Commission meeting on Jan. 15, preservationists in the audience and the dais discussed the Geneva School Board's apparent leaning toward a decision to demolish the building. Commission Chairman Scott Roy said there wasn't much the commission could do to stop demolition until or unless the building demolition came before the HPC—which is unlikely, since the Coultrap property is not within Geneva's downtown historic districts. On Jan. 15, Commissioner Mike Bruno posted a blog …

•  13 Comments
• Photos (5)
• Videos (1)

Mike Bruno

6:58 am on Wednesday, January 23, 2013

With due respect Paul, it is because Geneva DID think about the future, created an Historic District in the late 70s, protected the historic structures and now have the a city center that is the envy of the state and known around the world. There is nothing wrong with citizens making an effort to re-purpose an old building. Such efforts define Geneva. Demolition is a one-way street. It may well …   more ›

Monday Night's Forum Could Decide Fate of Historic Coultrap Building

School Board members say the 6 p.m. Monday meeting is likely to be the last before a decision is made on whether to demolish the historic Coultrap building.

Geneva School Board Ready to Pass Tax Levy, Oppose State Legislation

School District 304 is poised to pass a 1.5 percent tax levy increase and a resolution opposing "non-productive legislative restraints" at its last scheduled meeting of 2012.

In a year filled with drama—from teachers contract negotiations to Coultrap demolition plans to kindergarten enrollment bubbles to "Enrollmentgate" challenges to possible school boundary changes—the Geneva School Board isn't shying away from important topics in its last scheduled meeting of 2012. Among the items on Monday's (Dec. 10, 2012) agenda is approval of a proposed 1.5 percent increase in the tax levy, an overarching school improvement plan and a resolution that will oppose "non-productive legislative restraints." No details on that last item are offered in the recently amended School Board agenda packet as of Friday afternoon but might have something to do with recent rumblings that some state of Illinois legislators want to shift …

• Photos (1)

QuickStory: Lots of Ideas on Coultrap's Fate—But District Will Keep the Land

A variety of ideas and opinions come out of the first of two public hearings on the possible demolition of the Coultrap facility. But one message is clear: The School District intends to keep the property.

Most of the 20 or so Genevans who went to the podium at Monday's community forum asked Geneva School Board members to find a way to preserve at least part of the 1923-vintage Coultrap building. But the groundswell of preservationist opinion wasn't quite as loud—or as pure—as the outcry to save the Pure Oil building. In fact, there were nearly as many ideas about what to do with the Coultrap building as there were speakers. One message did come through as clear as a school bell Monday night, however: Whether Coultrap stands or falls, the district has no intent to sell the land beneath it. "At some point in the future, because the high school is landlocked, we are going to need additional space," School Board President Mark Grosso said. "We …

•  21 Comments
• Photos (10)

Bob McQuillan

10:30 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Geneva Non-Parent I'm advocating that the district has a plan to pay off the debt before we renovate any buildings. The district has no formal plan to pay off the debt other than have the taxpayers pay more in taxes and maintain the education fund at $15 million. Within a few short years, our yearly debt repayment will be $24.9 million dollars, $10 million more than we currently pay. This …   more ›

POLL: Should the Geneva School District Demolish the Coultrap Building?

What do you think? Is it better suited for an adaptive reuse or should the School District get on with the business of selling the property?

School Board President Mark Grosso put the proposal out for all to see Monday night. A School District 304 task force recommended demolishing the Coultrap building that was Geneva's high school in 1923. Since that time, it has served as a junior high school, a middle school, an elementary school and is now the place where the School Board holds its public meetings. Two of the task force members—Grosso and School Board member Tim Moran—acknowledged the emotional and sentimental reasons people likely would have for keeping the building intact.  "The sentimental issues are not to be minimized," Moran said. "But the fact remains that it’s a dinosaur, it’s in poor shape, and I don’t think it’s prudent to renovate a portion of this building." …

•  18 Comments
• Photos (2)