SPRINGFIELD — Superintendent Jennifer Gill may have participated in her last ribbon cutting before her June 30 retirement.
That doesn’t mean the end of her watch as far as other building projects, however.
Gill said she and others are finalizing plans for a new district-wide fieldhouse at Southeast High School. Also at Southeast, there are finalized plans for a new grand entrance and improved classroom space and a new office area.
Preliminary drawings are set for a new Lincoln Magnet gym and renovations are on the drawing board for Harvard Park Elementary.
“I might get invited back to one or two of them, but it will be (new Superintendent) Dr. (Terrence) Jordan’s from this point on,” said Gill, outside of the new Owen Marsh Elementary building, which will be ready for the new school year.
The new building is across a cul-de-sac from the current building, at 1100 Avon Drive.
Family members of the school’s namesake, a former president of the Illinois Association of School Boards and president of the District 186 school board from 1954 to 1957 who died in 1964, attended the May 22 ribbon cutting and school walk-through as did John Cavitt, who served as the school’s first principal from 1967 to 1977.
Students, let out from class, cheered on the ribbon cutting.
The school was part of the district’s master building plan and made possible when Sangamon County voters approved the 1% sales tax increase in 2018.
“To be able open up Owen Marsh and to be able to show this community we care and give them a nice, new school is important to me,” Gill said.
The mid-century design of the old building embraced the “open school concept,” Cavitt said. The two circular structures on both ends didn’t have walls at first, he said.
The building is expected to be torn down sometime this summer.
“It’s a bittersweet thing because we had a great staff and a great set of parents and kids,” Cavitt said. “There are so many memories. This looks like a beautiful building and it’s going to be a lot better (situation).”
Principal Wendy Conaway said students, teachers and staff members were excited about the move.
“To see the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ on people’s faces or out of their mouths and just knowing I had a hand in creating a lot of the architecture and space and helped with the design, it feels great,” Conaway said.
“In the old building, it feels like we’re on top of each other, so we’ll miss that small closeness, but it’s heartwarming having additional space to learn and feel comfortable.”
Some of the school’s former administrators and teachers are being remembered in the new structure.
The commons area, for instance, recognizes former District 186 Superintendent and former Owen Marsh principal Diane Rutledge, who died Feb. 3.
The library is named for the late Martha Havey, a first-grade teacher, while the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) lab honors the late Laura Schemmer, who taught science.
Another personal touch: a hand painting of a frog, the school’s mascot, at center court of the new gymnasium,
Jeff Marsh, the grandson of Owen Marsh, grew up in Springfield before his family moved to Texas when he was 12.
When Marsh heard about the new school and rededication, he said he had to come back.
“For the family, (we feel) very proud, particularly when they first named it after him to begin with,” said Marsh, who lives in Houston. “The administration, the staff and all the teachers they’re the ones supporting the legacy of Owen Marsh’s (contributions) to public service. That legacy of serving in public education continues on.”
Before the ribbon cutting, Michael O’Shea of O’Shea Builders, the contractor for the new Owen Marsh school, said Gill’s hard work and leadership would impact the lives of schoolchildren and the school district “for generations to come.”
“The work will continue,” Gill promised. “I think I put some good things in order and got the motor started so everyone can take them over the finish line.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Owen Marsh students will have a new landing pad in the fall
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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