sch review 01 19 06 Proposal would demolish schoolhouse for donation BY PATRICK CORCORAN STAFF WRITER The historic Charles A. Lindbergh Schoolhouse would be demolished in exchange for a $50,000 donation to the Hoffman Estates Historical Society from the property owner, according to a proposal backed by Village President Bill McLeod. The schoolhouse is currently protected by a 1996 agreement between Ryland Homes and former Village President Michael O'Malley, who hoped the 73-year-old building could be converted into a community center. However, the Village Board may be soon asked to reverse the pledge. Driving these new talks is an impending Illinois Department of Transportation plan to widen Shoe Factory Road that will put the roadway closer to the schoolhouse, possibly only 17 inches away from the front stoop, according to village officials. McLeod said the situation is unfortunate, but public safety and road improvements concerns trump those regarding the historical value of the property. "We have thousands of people who are going to be moving in and out there, and the road needs to be widened," he said. The one-room schoolhouse was one of only a few used by the area's farm families before contemporary school districts were developed. According to a 1999 study by a Chicago-based firm -- Historic Certification Consultants -- the building is notable for its unusual cobblestone walls and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Village Historian Pat Barch and others say the schoolhouse can and should be saved. Ideally, it would be moved to a new location and preserved, she said. A 3-year-old plan to hand the schoolhouse over to a Hoffman Estates family for use as a residence fell apart last year. The museum board -- which includes Barch, McLeod, Village Clerk Virginia Hayter and residents Barbara Adrianopoli, Bob Lyons and Debby Miller -- discussed the proposal briefly last week and is now seeking cost estimates for moving the house. Barch said at its new location, the schoolhouse could be turned into a simple historical landmark. "At least it would be a place to look at -- something to admire and learn a little bit about," she said. Barch and other museum board members would also like a richer donation from Ryland. She said $50,000 isn't enough since several new homes could fit on the schoolhouse property. "We told the mayor, 'Ask for more.' To me, it's a small amount," she said. The group is in the preliminary stages of creating a fund-raising campaign with the hopes of relocating and renovating the schoolhouse, Barch said. Because saving the house seems to be a long shot, the situation is discouraging, Barch said. "I kind of feel like there is no hope right now," she said. Trustee Ray Kincaid is seeking a temporary solution. If the building can be moved to the other side of Shoe Factory Road, then the road widening project can go on unimpeded, the schoolhouse can be saved, he said. On Tuesday, Kincaid visited the site with village Code Enforcement Director Don Plass and Bob Przewlocki, owner of Preservation Trades, Inc., a Wayne, Ill., company with experience in relocating historic structures. Kincaid, whose father went to school in a one-room schoolhouse in southern Illinois, said a cost estimate should be available soon. He said he would like to see the building saved for future generations to understand how people in the area were educated. "One-room schoolhouses are part of the history of this country. Kids today go to preschools bigger than this school and students from kindergarten to high school were taught in these buildings," he said. "Years from now, the building could have a special meaning to local children." McLeod said he, like other village officials, originally supported the plan to preserve the house, but the village is now running out of options. "We all had good intentions with this. I thought something viable would happen there, but we are responsible for life safety in this village and we can't have the building there. People regularly kick down the door and go in and do God knows what," he said. "As time goes by and no one steps up to do something, what do you do?"